Just a Little Holiday Blackmail
by tentsubasa
Summary: Nami Amou, journalist and schemer extraordinaire, has managed to blackmail the male concours participants into holding a boy-band Christmas concert to raise money for the Journalism Club. With their secrets on the line, how much are the boys willing to endure both on and off the stage? Songs by (in order) *NSync, WHAM!, 98 Degrees, All-4-One, Backstreet Boys, and Simple Plan.
1. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Kiniro no Corda**_** or any affiliates. I don't own any of the songs featured in this story either.**

**Thoughts are in italics within quotes. Song lyrics are in bold because I don't know how to do the formatting for block quotes.**

***NSync's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" youtube…com/watch?v=oeLfuIzF6v8**

* * *

"I can't _believe_ we have to do this!" Ryoutaro raged again. He cut an imposing figure as he paced the small dressing room with long, swift strides, his black pants a blur as they moved across the floor. Eventually he stopped and leaned against the wall. His tan, knit turtleneck was beginning to get a little warm.

"Get over it," Len grumbled in response as he leaned his cheek on his knuckle, the cream-colored cardigan over a light-blue dress shirt cushioning his elbow as he leaned it on the counter. He crossed his black-clad legs as he sat by the mirror. "I'm tired of listening to your childish whining."

Before the two could launch into yet another argument, Azuma stepped in between them, hands raised in a pacifying gesture. Hair tied back in a low ponytail, he sported a deep maroon turtleneck with a brown suede jacket and black pants. "Now, now, calm down. It will be over before you know it."

In the corner, Keiichi pointed to the floor and then up to the ceiling, murmuring the words as he performed the actions. In jeans, white turtleneck, and brown plaid ski vest, he looked like he was on his way to a date.

"Please stop!" Ryoutaro groaned. "If I have to think about that choreography anymore, I'm going to forget it!"

"You'll be fine. Amou-san said that you're one of the best dancers out of the five of us."

Ignoring his senpai's encouragement, Ryoutaro bemoaned again, "How did we get ourselves in this mess anyway?"

"We were blackmailed, or did you forget already?" Len answered sarcastically.

Ryoutaro narrowed his eyes at his fellow second-year. "This situation already sucks hard; I don't need lip from you on top of it."

As the two boys continued to bicker, Kazuki sighed and tried to lend his peace-making skills to the mix. Unfolding his long legs from the table, he joked, "Hey, it could be worse. We could all have to wear the same thing."

His kouhai blandly looked at him as they surveyed his outfit: black skinny jeans over tennis shoes; a green-striped, long-sleeved shirt; and a red-and-black flannel plaid shirt tied around his waist. A good thing they didn't all have to wear the same thing indeed.

Knowing they didn't like his clothes, he pouted cutely. "At least we don't have to wear _costumes_."

Everyone acknowledged that.

"And we don't have to do anything extremely embarrassing," Kazuki continued to encourage cheerfully. Then his face fell. "Well, except for me," he mourned.

Ryoutaro snorted unsympathetically. "That's because you're totally whipped. The moment Amou even hints at your secret, you fall over yourself promising to do whatever she wants."

Kazuki gave him a sad smile. "Yeah, I know…." Absently, he remembered the day all of their lives were ruined.

It had started out a nice day. It really had. The sun was shining, and a touch of Fall was in the air as the Summer slowly withdrew to slumber until the following year. He was early, all his homework had been easy, he had woken up feeling refreshed, Mom had made his favorite foods for breakfast just because—basically the day couldn't have started off any better. But it all went downhill once he got to his shoe cubby.

The first thing he noticed when he opened the door was that there was a note in there. For a moment he just stared at it in confusion. Why was there a note in his cubby? Then his eyes widened. Was it possible? Yunoki always received so many of them. Was it possible that this was a-a-a l-l-l-love le-le-letter?! He immediately snatched it up to give it a more thorough examination. Pink envelope, check. Heart sticker, check. Addressed to him, check. His heart lifted for a second. Could it possibly be from Kaho-chan? A dreamy smile crossed his face as he went momentarily to la-la land.

Unfortunately, more careful examination of the handwriting concluded that it wasn't from her. Now he was troubled. Someone liked him, but he liked Kaho-chan. Should he ignore it? Should he read it? How should he respond? He couldn't tell this mystery girl that he liked someone else. It was his deepest, darkest, best-kept secret. He hadn't even hinted to Yunoki that he had a crush on someone.

With a firm set of his mouth, he opened the envelope. He should show proper respect to this girl's feelings even if he would turn her down. He smiled a bit sadly as he pulled the contents from their wrapping. After all, she was braver than he was.

But as he read the letter, a sinking horror clutched his heart. For like a wolf in sheep's clothing, this innocent-looking love letter was actually blackmail of the foulest sort. "I know you like Kahoko Hino," it read, "and if you don't do what I say, I'm going to tell her how you feel. Meet me in Room 506 of the General Studies' Wing at 3:30 this afternoon. We'll talk more then. –Nami Amou"

All the color drained out of his face as the note fluttered to the floor from his nerveless fingers. She knew. She _knew_. _How_ could she know? He had been so careful! He hadn't told a soul! And…and she'd _tell_ too! His hands went clammy. If she told Kaho-chan, he'd lose any shot he had! Scooping up the note, he furtively looked around to see if anyone had seen. Good. The coast was clear. He stared at the note again, begging the words to erase themselves from before his eyes, but to no avail. Hearing the sound of more chattering classmates entering the building, he quickly changed his shoes and rushed off to class. The note sat like a leaded weight deep in his pocket.

Kazuki groaned inwardly as he walked into the empty room after school. He was early, ridiculously early. At first he tried sitting and waiting quietly for his fate, but in his agitated state, he just couldn't stay still. He fidgeted, twiddled his thumbs, paced the floor, anything to make the time go by. Was it just him, or had time slowed to an agonizing crawl? He froze like a deer in headlights as the door cracked open. Here she came….

It was Tsuchiura.

With twin looks of confusion, the two boys stared at each other. "What are you doing here?" they asked at the same time.

"Uh…I…uh…I'm-err…I'm…I'm waiting for someone."

"Yeah…me too…."

Both of them turned as the door opened again, revealing a surprisingly alert Keiichi. Azuma soon followed. All four boys looked around at the others with puzzled looks.

"Are you also here to meet Amou-senpai…?" Keiichi asked his speech coming forth at a more normal pace.

Ryoutaro frowned as he cocked a hip on a desk. "What's going on here?"

"What's going on," Nami announced as she dragged in a highly annoyed Len by the arm, "is that I have a particular…task I'd like you to do for me."

"And if we refuse?" Len countered with a voice like winter.

She gave him a smug, slit-eyed smile. "Then you know what happens." Leaving Len to his suppressed frustration, she turned to the others. "Now that we're all here, I have a proposition for you." She smiled brightly. "I want the five of you to put on a Christmas Eve concert to help raise money for the Journalism Club."

Len sniffed. "You could have just asked instead of resorting to such tactics. We _have_ played together in the past."

"Ah, ah, ah," she wagged her finger at him. "There you go assuming what I want and jumping to conclusions. Dangerous business you know, assuming things." Her eyes held a gleeful, evil gleam. "You five are going to sing."

Pandemonium broke out.

"Sing?!" Kazuki cried in alarm.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Ryoutaro shouted.

"What kind of stupid idea is that?" Len sneered.

She frowned at the protesting boys. "Do you want me to make good on my threat? I will, you know."

That shut them up pretty quickly.

Azuma leaned back with his arms crossed. "This certainly is an interesting proposition you have brought up."

"What…are we to sing…?" Keiichi cocked his head to the side, ever focused on the music aspect.

Nami positively beamed at the two. They were being very reasonable about the whole thing. "You'll be doing American songs. Mostly romantic," she quelled the beginning of a protest from Ryoutaro with a glare, "because girls absolutely love guys who sing, and we want to pack that auditorium to bursting." She passed out contracts to each boy. "This will ensure that you'll show up to rehearsals and dance practice."

"_Dance_ practice?!" Kazuki exclaimed in horror.

"Yes, _dance practice_. You boys are good looking, but you're going to have to do at least a little choreography or it'll get boring."

Kazuki huffed a bit at the backhanded compliment as he reluctantly read the paper.

As one-by-one they handed back the contracts, Nami's grin stretched even wider. Of course they all signed. What else could they do?

Once she collected all the contracts, she seemed to become more calm and professional. Kazuki couldn't help but wonder deep inside if she felt a bit bad about doing this to them. He supposed it was for a good cause, even if it would be extremely embarrassing.

And so, the arduous three-and-a-half months up to Christmas Eve began.

Back in the present, Ryoutaro waved a hand in front of the green-haired boy's face. "Hello? Anyone there?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Just thinking."

The younger boy nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry for saying that; this is just really beginning to get to me." He smiled wryly. "I don't think I've ever been this nervous before."

"It's just another performance," Len dismissed.

For once, Ryoutaro didn't make a snarky comeback. "It is, but when I play piano, I know that I'm not going to completely and utterly fail and humiliate myself." He clenched his fist. "This…I don't know."

Throwing a companionable arm around his kouhai's shoulders, Kazuki grinned widely at him. "Hey, if we suck, then we suck."

"And it would serve Amou-san right," Azuma added with an impish twinkle in his eye.

At that, all the boys began to laugh, letting out the stress.

Until the knock came at the door signaling it was time for them to go onstage.

They all looked at each other nervously until Keiichi solemnly put forward his hand. "Together."

With determined smiles, the others nodded and threw their hands into the pile. "Together."

And with this spirit, they began their walk on death's row.

~ (^o^) ~

Under the cover of darkness, Azuma took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Figures the first song of the night started off with a solo. "_This is just another performance like any other. You can do this._" A sardonic smile flashed briefly across his features. His whole life was basically a performance; this was just another small part of the grand play.

As the music poured out from the speakers, he counted beats in his head. The roar from the audience was deafening as he stepped into the lone spotlight. "**Merry Christmas…and Happy Holidays**"

The other spotlights hit their marks. "**Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays,**" the boys sang in four-part harmony. Criss-cross and turn.

As the others bobbed in time to the music, Azuma strolled the stage doing the ridiculous hand gestures Amou-san insisted he use.

**We've been waiting all year for this night**  
**And the snow is glistening on the trees outside**  
**And all the stockings are hung by the fire side**  
**Waiting for Santa to arrive**

He flashed his most charming smile.

**And all the love will show**  
**'Cause everybody knows**  
**It's Christmastime and**  
**All the kids will see**  
**The gifts under the tree**  
**It's the best time of the year for the family**

He walked backward into a pyramid with the others.

"**It's a wonderful feeling**," they sang as they danced.

**Feel the love in the room**  
**From the floor to the ceiling**  
**It's that time of year**  
**Christmastime is here**

Slowly bring both arms down in a forward arc. "**And with the blessings from above**." Lean to the side and sweep down a pointed finger in another arc. "**God sends you his love**." Spread arms grandly out. "**And everything's okay / Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays**," they finished as they began stepping side-to-side.

"**Merry Christmas**," they snapped down by their hips, "**Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays**"

Kazuki gulped and stepped forward trying to look excited. "**Bells are ringing / It's time to scream and shout**"

"**Scream and shout**," they echoed.

"**And everybody's playing 'cause school's out**." He smiled more easily, starting to get into it.

**Celebrating this special time we share**  
**Happiness 'cause love is in the air**

**And all the love will show**  
**'Cause everybody knows**

He punctuated the words with finger jabs, "**It's Christmastime**," flash of smile, "**and / All the kids will see / The gifts under the tree / It's the best time of the year**," high note, "**for the family**."

He moved back with a flushed grin as the audience cheered for him. All of them were starting to pick up the enthusiasm of the audience a little bit. They weren't sucking!

**It's a wonderful feeling**  
**Feel the love in the room**  
**From the floor to the ceiling**  
**It's that time of year**  
**Christmastime is here**  
**And with the blessings from above**  
**God sends you his love**  
**And everything's okay**  
**Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays**

They continued to groove to the music.

**Merry Christmas**  
**Merry Christmas**  
**Happy Holidays**

**Merry Christmas**  
**Merry Christmas**  
**And Happy Holidays**

Len sighed and moved forward for his solo. If his smile was more of a grimace, no one seemed to particularly notice. "**No matter what your holiday / It's a time to celebrate**"

Mouths dropped open all over the auditorium. He was _good_!

"**And put your worries aside**"

"**Worries aside**," the others crooned with a snake to the right.

"**And open up your mind**"

"**Open up your mind**." Snake to the left.

"**See the world right by your side**." He took a deep breath and belted, "**It's Christmastime**."

The screams were overwhelming.

With a smile, Kazuki and Ryoutaro began clapping over their heads. "**Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas**"

Azuma and Keiichi joined in mimicking them. "**Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays**"

Len at the top of the pyramid began to clap as well. "**Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas**"

They stepped side-to-side and snapped. "**Happy Holidays**"

Back to the chorus.

**It's a wonderful feeling**  
**Feel the love in the room**  
**From the floor to the ceiling**  
**It's that time of year**  
**Christmastime is here**  
**And with the blessings from above**  
**God sends you his love**  
**And everything's okay**  
**Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays**

They all roamed different sides of the stage as the audience enthusiastically clapped in time. "**Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas / And Happy Holidays**"

Their voices began to fade as they began to walk off-stage.

**Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas**  
**And Happy Holidays**  
**Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas**  
**Happy Holidays!**

Nami was beside herself with excitement as the audience cheered and hollered. They were a hit! She could do a special in the newspaper. Maybe she could sell recordings of the practice sessions and make even more money for the club! Her smile was reminiscent of the cat that got the cream. She was going to milk this for all it was worth. After all, the club could use a new printer.

* * *

**And that's chapter one. Let me know if there are other songs people would like them to "sing." Currently I'm thinking I'll do "The Gift," by 98 Degrees; some song the men's choir at my high school did called, "You're My Christmas Angel," or something like that; All-4-One's "This Christmas" (minus ad-libbing in the middle); and *NSync's "The Only Gift" and/or "All I Want is You This Christmas" (not necessarily in that order), but other than that, I'm not sure what else to do.**


	2. All I Want is You This Christmas

***NSync's "All I Want is You This Christmas": youtube…com/watch?v=3g7xnlGodus**

**Many apologies to anyone who accidentally read the unformatted version of this chapter.**

* * *

"No," Len said flatly, "absolutely not."

"But it would be perfect!" Nami insisted. "Can you imagine the effect?" She paused dramatically, "The ice prince declaring how as long as he is with you, anything can happen." She pouted at him. "The whole crowd would be puddles at your feet!"

"No," he refused again. Recognizing the threat before she could make it, he pointed at Ryoutaro. "Make him sing it. I already have a solo." His gaze hardened. "It's only fair."

"What?!" Ryoutaro leapt to his feet as if electrified. "You can't make me sing that!" He crossed his arms belligerently. "The contract said nothing about solos."

"There are only five of us. Of course we'd have to sing solos, genius." Len gave a mental eye roll.

Nami jumped in between, ready to respond to the dangerous fire that lit in Ryoutaro's eyes.

"Hmm…" Azuma murmured quietly, diffusing the tension. "Tsukimori-kun does have a point though, Tsuchiura-kun. You _are_ the only one of us who doesn't have a solo currently…."

"Yunoki-senpai…."

"Alright," Nami clapped her hands together. "That settles it." Pointing a large paper fan at Ryoutaro she ordered, "Tsuchiura-kun, you'll be singing the second solo for this song."

With a frown, he grudgingly agreed. As he looked away from the others toward the window, his eyes gained a slight look of dread.

Keiichi looked up at Nami. "Do…we need…to dance…? This song…seems…slow…."

She shook her head. "No dancing for this number. I want there to be a fairly good balance of songs where you dance and songs where you don't."

"Score!" Kazuki punched the air in victory. His athleticism made him a pretty decent dancer, but he always felt silly doing it. All smiles, he swung an arm over both Azuma and Len's shoulders and pulled them in for a friendly head-lock. "Isn't this great?! We've got it easy this time!"

"Yes, wonderful," Len answered dryly as he managed to finally extract himself from the older boy's arm. Azuma just quietly laughed as he patted his friend's shoulder. He could be so easily pleased sometimes.

Nami bopped Kazuki on the head with her fan to get his attention. Time was a-wasting. "Now I expect you to sing extra well because you don't have to dance. Capisce?"

He nodded with a pout as he protected his head.

"Now get to work," she ordered as she sat down on the window sill with her homework. She sighed a bit in irritation as she tried to concentrate on her math assignment. She had quickly learned that leaving them all without any reminder of why they were doing this would allow the practice session to unravel into unproductive chaos. Between Tsuchiura-kun and Tsukimori-kun's bickering, Hihara-senpai's scatterbrained tendencies, Shimizu-kun's strange ability to randomly fall asleep at various times, and Yunoki-senpai's amusement at seeing all the mischief the others wreaked, only the threat of retribution seemed to be able to unite them in carrying out her plan like the good little musicians she knew they could be. Why was everything so hard? She frowned at a particularly difficult derivative. She had seen how cohesively they had played without any practice after the final selection and how well they had played for the Director. Where was the spirit of teamwork and pride in their performance that she expected from these boys?

She glanced a bit guiltily at them as they worked. Tsuchiura-kun sat at the piano helping everyone figure out their parts as the others stood or leaned on the piano with their sheet music before them. Were they so resentful of the blackmail that they'd be unable to come together and work as a group? She sighed and sent them a mental apology. When she had first struck upon this venture, it didn't seem so bad. Yeah, blackmail wasn't really nice, but singing was music too. Surely they'd come to find it fun.

Writing in the answer to the problem, she started to wonder if she had done the right thing.

~ (^o^) ~

Each carrying a black box, the boys silently walked onto the stage and expertly set them down on their color-coded pieces of small, glow-in-the-dark tape. That done, they quietly arranged themselves on the staggered boxes and waited for the music to start.

There it was. The notes started off soft and melodic with a quiet piano vamp underneath. Cheers rose up as the drums and sax came in, the lights illuminating the tableau.

Raising the microphone to his lips, Keiichi smiled softly and began to sing, his voice clear and true. "**Snowy Night / Where it's warm here by the fire / Here with you**."

"**Here with you**," the others sang back.

"**I have all that I desire**." About a hundred hearts melted into puddles of goo. "**It's been a long year / But somehow we got by**." So many girls sighed in rapture as his gentle smile lit up his face. "**Now it's Christmas Eve / And love is on our side**." Oh what they'd give for him to truly be singing to them.

Together they sang hushed oohs under him as he completely enslaved the female population of the school.

**I don't need a hundred gifts beneath the tree**  
**Don't you know the best thing you could give to me?**  
**Nothing else will do**  
**All I want is you this Christmas**

"**This Christmas**," Len and Kazuki echoed.

"**This Christmas**," the other three finished.

The squeals of delight at the utter romance of it were somewhat frightening. Ryoutaro took a deep breath and raised his mike as he cursed his luck. How was he supposed to follow that? Well, here went nothing. "**Children sing**"

"**Children sing**," they crooned.

"**Christmas carols at the door / Spreading joy**"

"**Spreading joy**"

"**That's what Christmas time is for**." He began to relax a bit; no one was booing. He couldn't sound that bad. With a rarely shown, kind, gentle look, he continued, "**Though we don't have much / You've got me and I've got you**." He looked up into the faceless void unaware of just how many faces he had caused to sweetly flush and how many hearts had begun to stutter unsteadily in their chests. "**And with a little faith / Miracles come true**."

The others grinned at him, sending him mental high-fives as they sang while the audience shouted their adoration.

**And I don't need a hundred gifts beneath the tree**  
**Don't you know the best thing you could give to me?**  
**Nothing else will do**  
**All I want is you this Christmas**

"**This Christmas**"

"**This Christmas**"

"**I don't want the love any other girl…**." Half the audience went into a dead faint at the thought that her boy of choice was singing this to her. "**I want only one thing in this whole wide world / Nothing else will do / All I want is you this Christmas**."

"**This Christmas**"

"**This Christmas**"

Slowly they began to rise. "**Cheek to cheek**." Kazuki and Azuma stood fluidly. "**The lights are low**." Len and Keiichi. "**A kiss beneath the mistletoe**."

Ryoutaro rose and took a step forward. "**Your face lit by the fire's glow / That's all I want tonight…**" he murmured, making more than one girl's heart fall at his feet.

With just enough grooving to keep their ever-watchful dance choreographer satisfied, the boys sauntered down the stage, each boy picking a section of the auditorium and heading toward it. On their marks, they sang the final chorus with a special girl in mind.

**And I don't need a hundred gifts beneath the tree**  
**Don't you know the best thing you could give to me**  
**Nothing else will do**  
**All I want is you this Christmas**

"**This Christmas**"

"**This Christmas**"

Lifting the microphone again, Keiichi brought them home, turning just about every girl into a sighing, moony mess. "**Nothing else will do / All I want is you…this Christmas…**."

Offstage, Nami smiled as she leaned against the wall. It looked like things had turned out after all.

* * *

**Wow…I haven't put up a new chapter that quickly in a long time. I guess we'll see how many chapters I get in before the holidays are over. I'm thinking I'll try to stretch it to 10 chapters because I feel like a concert that has fewer than ten songs isn't really much of a concert. I'm still taking song requests if people want to send them in. *hint hint* (^_~)**

**Thank you again to those who sent in reviews. (^_^)**


	3. Last Christmas

**WHAM!'s "Last Christmas": youtube…com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI**

**I recommend listening to this as you read the first section: youtube…com/watch?v=Apptd0vjl4g**

* * *

Ryoutaro stormily pounded on the piano as he vented his mood in Beethoven's _Fifth_. He was so pissed off. Being the piano player in the group, he had been designated the group accompanist, and in some ways, its leader, which totally blew. He wanted nothing to do with this whole thing. Well, it's not like anyone else wanted to be a part of this either, but they didn't have to play everyone's parts over and over until they wanted to scream.

His face darkened even more as the memory of his blackmail notice arose again in his mind. He played heavily on the keys, all finesse forgotten as he simply used the music as a medium to channel his roiling emotions.

He too had been a bit confused when he found the little pink envelope sitting on top of his school shoes. But when he had briskly ripped open his envelope, rather than a note, the first thing that caught his eye was a photograph, or rather, multiple photographs. Three, to be exact.

He narrowed his eyes at the first. He looked to be about six-years-old as he happily sat at the piano next to who he assumed was his mother—anything above the curve of her neck was cropped from the picture. The photograph itself was harmless enough. What disturbed him was exactly _how_ this photograph came to be in his possession. As far as he was aware, pictures like this were supposed to be locked away in an album in a cabinet somewhere at home.

He moved onward to the second photograph. His face immediately pinkened. He was probably about three here. He was cuddled up with a dirty, obviously well-loved blanket and wearing these calico cat pajamas complete with—he cringed—ears, tail, and bell collar. Oh man, was this embarrassing. If the blue-haired prissy boy saw this, he'd never hear the end of it.

But the last picture was the worst. All color drained from his face. "_No_," he thought in horror. He could not be seeing this. Being the oldest child in his family and the oldest grandchild on both sides of the family ensured that his life was very well documented, a fact that he had never rued more than right now. For smiling up at him, the picture of childlike innocence, was him at about the age of two, splashing stark naked in the bathtub while sucking his thumb surrounded by brightly colored baby bath toys. He felt the sudden urge to be sick. Someone had sent these to him. Someone else had _seen_ these.

Almost like an afterthought, a piece of lined notebook paper fluttered out from behind the pictures. He pounced on it the instant it hit the floor. Who had done this? _How_ had they found these?! His eyes angrily roamed over the text before coming to a dead stop. Numbness overtook his brain as his eyes frantically ran over the words again. She…she _wouldn't_. She just _wouldn't_, would she? Surely no one would be that inhumanely cruel.

"Don't you think these and some others would be stunning in a full-color feature about the mysterious pianist who appeared from thin air? If you don't agree, then meet me in Room 506 of the General Studies' Wing at 3:30 this afternoon. We'll talk then. – The Official Reporter for the Intra-school Concours"

He had managed to negotiate return of all copies of the photographs and negatives after this stupid concert, but until then, he was stuck. He rammed his fingers down harder. Stuck, even the stupid word seemed to mock him. So this was his choice. He could either be completely and totally disgraced all on his lonesome, or he could share his humiliation with four others, even if it was doing something as mortifying as singing and dancing in front of the entire school. Considering just how much misery loves company, his choice was obvious. But it still sucked.

He slammed down on the final note, his breathing hard and uneven as the charged note finally faded from the room.

"Angry about something Tsuchiura-kun?"

Ryoutaro turned to see his purple-haired senpai standing just inside the doorway. He blew out a deep breath and raked his fingers through his hair. "Doesn't it make you angry, Yunoki-senpai?"

He just shrugged. "There are many injustices in this world. Being angry at them usually does not make them go away."

Ryoutaro leaned an elbow on the piano with a slightly bitter smile. "What a wise-sounding thing to say…as expected." He surveyed his senpai with a thoughtful face. "But you didn't answer my question." Looking him directly in the eye, he asked, "Does it make you angry?"

Azuma's smile had a fleeting shadow of a smirk. "Is there anyone who would not be in this situation?"

He leaned back with a bark of laughter feeling a little better. It was nice to know even Mr. Perfect Student Body President was human, at least sometimes. "Want to get back at her?"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Kazuki answered, popping up from nowhere and almost giving his kouhai a heart attack. He looked anxiously at the other boy. "Do you want to bring her wrath down on us?" His eyes looked frantic. "I mean, what if she…what if she…?" The thought was too horrible to complete.

Keiichi slowly nodded in agreement while Len seemed fairly unimpressed with the whole situation.

Ryoutaro ground his teeth in irritation. So much for male solidarity. "Come on! Aren't you tired of just having to take this? I say we fight back! Surely with all of us together, we can get around her."

"Oh? Is that so?"

His face blanched. Dread coiling in his stomach, he turned to look into Nami's smoldering blue eyes.

"Do I sense dissention among the ranks?" she barked at the others.

"N-n-n-no, m-m-ma'am," Kazuki squeaked.

She brushed past the others and marched right up to a now somewhat cowed pianist. That saying, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"? He was receiving the full effects of why right now. She waved at the door. "If you don't want to be here, Tsuchiura-kun, you're free to leave," her eyes glittered nastily, "but you know what will happen if you do." Drawing herself up to her full height, she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "So what will you choose?"

For a long, tense moment, the room was stiflingly silent. Then Ryoutaro sighed and grudgingly turned back to the piano. "What song do we want to practice today, guys?"

She slapped down a new set of music on the bench beside him. "You're practicing this today. And you and Tsukimori-kun will be doing the solos."

"What?!" Len snapped. "I had nothing to do with this!"

"The two of you have been ticking me off." She stared him down levelly with a set jaw.

The violinist finally looked away. "Fine," he spat.

Azuma and Kazuki looked at each other. The tension was thick enough to scoop for ice cream. It was going to be a _long_ practice.

~ (^o^) ~

Screams of anticipation rose from the audience as the lights flooded the stage on the first downbeat. Overhead, a disco ball twirled, sending different colored patterns of light over the performer's backs.

On the second go around, the boys spun forward in pairs by age. In unison, they slid to the right and back to the left for a measure before flipping to face left and snapping backward and forward. Pivoting smoothly to the front, they sang.

**Last Christmas  
I gave you my heart  
But the very next day you gave it away  
This year  
To save me from tears  
I'll give it to someone special**

They spun to rearrange themselves so Len was in the middle.

**Last Christmas  
I gave you my heart  
But the very next day you gave it away  
This year  
To save me from tears  
I'll give it to someone special**

Len moved forward as the others filled in behind. He hated this solo with a passion. It just sounded so…pathetic. Was it really so attractive to women for a man to be bleeding and helpless before her? Then again, who could fathom the female brain? Certainly not him.

Behind him the others danced. "**Once bitten and twice shy**," they lowered their fingers and pushed forward as they slid back, "**I keep my distance / But you still catch my eye**."

Internally he cringed. This was so needy and humiliating.

**Tell me baby  
Do you recognize me?  
Well, it's been a year  
It doesn't surprise me**

Sliding forward from behind him, Ryoutaro took center stage. He couldn't say he was overly enthused by the lyrics either; it was a pretty sad song. But having experienced a taste some of the feelings of the songwriter first-hand back in middle school, he could understand them, unlike the cold fish.

Behind him, the others stepped side-to-side with long, swinging snaps. "**'Happy Christmas' / I wrapped it up and sent it**." They swept their right arms out before bringing them back in. "**With a note saying 'I love you' / I meant it**," lean back and push to the side, "**Now I know what a fool I've been / But if you kissed me now**," touch lips and snake the shoulder, "**I know you'd fool me again**."

They all spun and slid to the side, arms at a diagonal. "**Last Christmas / I gave you my heart / But the very next day you gave it away**"

"**You gave it away**," Len and Ryoutaro echoed.

"**This year / To save me from tears / I'll give it to someone special**"

"**Special**"

They popped their legs to the side a couple of times. "**Last Christmas / I gave you my heart**," sweep hand over heart, "**But the very next day you gave it away**," let hand drift down before bringing it up to eyes, "**This year / To save me from tears**," trickle down, "**I'll give it to someone special**."

"**Special**"

Slowly they sauntered about in a circle, until they formed a diagonal line that cut across the stage. At the top of the line, Kazuki punched up first with his right, then left, swinging both down across his body and popping to the left, the others following suit in a perfectly-timed wave until it arrived at Len amidst a sea of impressed, ecstatic shouts.

Weaving his way between the others with the moves of a jungle cat, he made his way forward.

**A crowded room  
Friends with tired eyes  
I'm hiding from you  
And your soul of ice**

The irony was not lost on the others who bit back laughs as they continued to dance behind him.

Len struck what Nami had dubbed his "tragically heroic pose" with a grimace.

**My God, I thought you were  
Someone to rely on  
Me?  
I guess I was a shoulder to cry on**

Ryoutaro moved to the foreground amidst the cries of undying love from the audience. "**A face on a lover with a fire in his heart / A man under cover but you tore me apart**," every girl's heart went out to him. "**Ooh, ooh / Now I've found a real love you'll never fool me again**"

He spun back to join the others. They all pulled their arms down slowly from above with pained, sad looks on their faces. "**Last Christmas / I gave you my heart / But the very next day you gave it away**"

"**You gave it away**," Len and Ryoutaro sang.

"**This year / To save me from tears / I'll give it to someone special**"

"**Special**"

They all spun before facing front and center to just sing. Most of them looked sad and in pain while clutching their chests. According to Nami, it made it more believable. "**Last Christmas / I gave you my heart / But the very next day you gave it away**"

"**You gave me away**," Len belted on the side, now the sole soloist for the rest of the song.

The others slowly backed up so that they were well behind Len, making sad entreating faces at the audience. "**This year / To save me from tears / I'll give it to someone special**"

"**Special…**"

The boys strode slowly forward in what Nami had dubbed their "sexy walk" (Kazuki never failed to blush for a good five minutes whenever she said that). "**A face on a lover with a fire in his heart**"

"**I gave you my heart**"

"**A man under cover but you tore him apart**." They split down the middle and began to saunter toward Len who stood at the center of the stage as the lights dimmed until they vanished under the cover of darkness. "**Next year I'll give it to someone / I'll give it to someone special….**"

Unseen by all, Ryoutaro smiled a little bit at the roaring applause. It looked like things wouldn't be quite as embarrassing as he thought. He had definitely made the right choice.

* * *

**Hmm…a lot more dancing descriptions this time around. Well, I think the next one will be a standing around doing nothing song, so I guess it's good for them to get some exercise.**

** Guest: Thank you for your review and song request! As you can see, I'm doing one of them. (^_^) Unfortunately, as much as I adore "All I Want for Christmas is You," I don't think I'll make the guys sing it. I think Ryoutaro, Len, and maybe Azuma would contemplate if murder would be better than singing Mariah Carey's version of it, and I don't really like the male cover that I've heard on the radio; it's too slow for me. I do plan to throw Kahoko in, at least briefly, but not for a bit yet. I want to keep the guys on their toes for a little longer.**

**Again, I'm still taking song requests if people want to send them in. (^_~)**

**Thank you again to those who sent in reviews. (^_^) Thanks also to those who added this story to their favorites and alerts.**


	4. Ave Maria

**98°'s "Ave Maria": youtube…com/watch?v=_caGCWNvp84**

* * *

"Amou-senpai…?"

"Yes, Shimizu-kun?" She straightened from cleaning up her homework after another fairly productive practice.

"Could we…sing…some classical…music…?"

She frowned slightly in surprise. Asking for more music already? "Are you sure you want to? It will be more difficult. It'll require more practicing."

"I miss…hearing…classical…music…" he replied, ignoring the curious/panicked/annoyed looks the others were shooting him.

She blinked in surprise.

"Since…we practice…so often…I can't…play…my cello…as much…as I wish…" he explained.

"Oh…." Now she really felt bad. Although to be fair, this was Shimizu-kun they were talking about. If he wasn't playing cello, he was sleeping, eating, or studying more about music (sometimes all at the same time), so…it's possible that he just wasn't able to have cello on the brain 24/7, which…may not be entirely a bad thing. But she still felt bad. "Is there anything you had in mind?"

He smiled. "'Ave…Maria.'"

The others looked at him with expressions ranging from surprised to suspicious.

"Like the version Hino-chan played in the final selection?" she asked innocently.

He just nodded slowly with a sweet smile. "Schubert's…would be…nice…but…it doesn't…have…to be…."

She tapped her lip thoughtfully before snapping as inspiration struck. "Oh! There is a version I know of!" Giving Keiichi a little salute and a wink, she pledged, "Leave it to me! I'll have sheet music ready next practice!"

He briefly bowed and cocked his head with a pure smile. "Thank…you…Amou-senpai…."

True to her word, she brought the music next practice. But unfortunately, to everyone's (and especially Ryoutaro's) chagrin, the song was a cappella, which meant that they didn't have any help whatsoever from the instrumental department (in Ryoutaro's case, it also meant that he'd have to play single notes over and over again until they haunted him even in his dreams). The song was also in Latin, which meant it was time to crack open the textbooks.

Face down on the library desk, Kazuki moaned, "Why do we have to do extra homework? And why won't Amou-chan let us use the internet to translate this?"

"Because she's a sadist," Len grumbled as he scrunched his nose at the ancient, smudged, faded text before him. Of all the foreign languages he had studied since he was a child, none of them had been Latin. Why couldn't the song be in French, German, English, or Spanish? Even Chinese would have been preferable!

"Quit yapping and start translating," Ryoutaro grunted from where he was pouring over a Latin-to-Japanese dictionary. "The song's not that long! We'd be done a million times faster if you'd just pull your weight."

Len's eyebrow twitched. "And who was it that needed help finding the dictionary that was right in front of his face again?"

"Up yours," he snarled.

"Now, now," Azuma murmured as he took some notes from a Latin language book. "You'll wake him up."

The other three turned to look upon the sleeping countenance of their fifth member and instigator of this whole mess.

Dropping his head back on the desk, Kazuki mumbled, "Why do we have to translate this song anyway?"

In a mocking, high-pitched caricature of Nami, Ryoutaro imperiously stated, "It's important to understand what you're singing in order to properly express the emotion of the song."

Unable to hold back, all the awake members of the group busted up laughing until a library attendant had to come over and scold them (albeit with many stammers and apologies once she caught sight of Azuma).

"I suppose it makes sense," Kazuki sighed and leaned his cheek on his hand, "but don't you think it's more work that it's worth?"

"I think…we're lucky…don't you?" Keiichi murmured as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

The others stared at him like he had grown two extra heads. Was he actually paying attention, or was he still half in dream land?

"Usually…we have…only…the score…to rely on…when…we try…to interpret…music…. Here…we have…lyrics too…. We get…an extra…piece…of information…. Isn't…that…lucky…?"

They all slowly nodded as they thought about it.

Sluggishly grabbing one of the papers from Len, Keiichi slowly, but clearly read the lyrics.

"Ave Maria  
gratia plena  
Dominus tecum  
Benedicta tu in mulieribus  
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus  
Sancta Maria, Sancta Maria  
Maria, ora pro nobis, nobis peccatoribus  
Nunc et in hora, in hora mortis nostrae  
Amen  
Amen"

He cocked his head. "They…broke up…the lyrics…a bit differently…didn't they…?"

Two mouths simultaneously dropped open, one set of eyebrows raised slightly, and one face just became very, very still.

In a slightly strangled voice, Len tersely asked in a tone as cold as the North Pole, "You mean, you _understand_ this?"

Keiichi blankly looked at him. "Of course…. It is…a famous…prayer…in the…Catholic…Church…. It is…also called…the 'Hail Mary'…or…'Angelic Salutation'…." Ignoring the strangled/relieved/frustrated/amused looks of his companions, he stoically continued, "In…1853…Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman transcribed…an improvisation…his son-in-law designed…to be…superimposed…over…Bach's _Prelude No. 1_…_in C major_…as a setting…for the text…of the prayer…. Zimmerman…also…made…an arrangement…of this song…for violin or cello…with piano…and harmonium…." He smiled serenely at the others, seemingly oblivious to the various expressions on their faces. "I…played…this…two years…ago…so I…researched…it…thoroughly…."

For once, Len and Ryoutaro were in perfect accord. If they had known that Keiichi knew what he knew, they would have woken him up an hour and a half ago.

Completely placid, Keiichi began to write on the paper, Kazuki and Azuma poking their heads over his shoulder to read as the second years sourly stewed. Once he was finished, he turned the paper and pushed it toward his senpai.

Bending over it, Ryoutaro and Len read silently,

"Ave Maria (Hail Mary)  
gratia plena (full of grace)  
Dominus tecum (the Lord is with you)  
Benedicta tu in mulieribus (Blessed are you among women)  
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus (and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus)  
Sancta Maria, Sancta Maria (Holy Mary, Holy Mary)  
Maria, ora pro nobis, nobis peccatoribus (Mary, pray for us, for us sinners)  
Nunc et in hora, in hora mortis nostrae (now and in the hour, the hour of our death)  
Amen  
Amen"

"Did you not translate the 'Amen's because it's just a declaration of affirmation?" Azuma asked.

Keiichi nodded. "I…don't…think…most…people…think…of it…as having…a specific…translation…."

Throwing his arms happily around his kouhai, Kazuki practically had tears running down his face. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Shimizu-kun! You are a total life-saver! I thought we were going to be stuck translating that thing for hours!"

"Let go, Hihara," Azuma chuckled. "You're going to choke the poor thing to death."

He immediately flew back and clapped his hands over his head in apology. "Sorry!"

Rolling his eyes at his senpai's childish behavior, Ryoutaro started gathering up the books. "Well, now that we're done here, I say we call it a day. Meet in the music rooms tomorrow as usual?"

"I want…to go…to a church…like…the one…I went to…with senpai…. I…think…it…would sound…really…nice…there…."

Senpai? All of the boys frowned a little at the golden-haired waif. Which senpai?

With a shrug, Azuma responded, "There is a church I know of not too far from here that has good acoustics. Shall we convene at the front gate tomorrow then?"

The others slowly agreed.

"But make sure Amou-san knows," Len muttered darkly. "She'll think we're reneging on our agreement if we don't."

The nods this time were much more fervent.

~ (^o^) ~

The sound of a pitch pipe cut through the darkness followed by muffled shuffling. They'd be starting soon. 1…2…3.

Softer than a whisper, they came in, their four-part harmony an air-tight wall of sound. "**A…ve…Mari…a….**" The muted stage lighting slowly illuminated their half-moon, the light brightening ever so slightly with each passing note. From right-to-left, Kazuki, Len, Keiichi, Ryoutaro, and Azuma stood, trying their best to recreate that magical, sacred moment in the church. "**Gra****…****tia ple****…****na / Do****…****minu****…****s te****…****cum**," they sang, visualizing the light as it filtered through the stained glass. "**Be…nedi…cta tu in mu…li…eribus / et bene…dictus fru…ctus ven…tri…s tui, Iesus**," their tones blended and resonated together. Softly at first, they went into a slow and steady crescendo. "**San…cta Mari…a, San…cta Mari…a / Mari…a,**" quiet again, "**o…ra pro no…bis, no…bis peccato…ribus**." Into the climax. "**Nunc et in ho…ra, in ho…ra mo…rtis no…strae / A…men….**" The sound resounded through the concert hall, surrounding the audience in an ocean of sound. "**A…men….**"

For a full minute the auditorium was silent. Then, like the roll of thunder, the screams and cheers came crashing through the air, washing over them like waves on a beach.

Keiichi smiled up into the darkness. He hoped she had heard it, another page of the sheet music in his heart. Just like that time in the church, it had felt really good.

* * *

**Whoot! Keiichi Shimizu is the man! I confess, all that information about Bach/Gounod's "Ave Maria" was ripped off of Wikipedia. I am not as dedicated to using books as Keiichi is. =P**

**I'm still taking song requests if people want to send them in. They really do help! (^_^)**

**Thank you again to those who sent in reviews. (^_^) Thanks also to those who added this story to their favorites and alerts.**


	5. This Christmas

**All-4-One's "This Christmas": youtube…com/watch?v=kPrCX-ezWfg**

** Guest: Everyone has a solo in this chapter, but it's a pretty Azuma-centric chapter, so I guess, yes? XD**

** Keizura Manjuroh: I'm so sorry I wasn't able to do your song this chapter. I wanted to, but I was having major writer's block on what to do for the first half, so I swapped it with this one. Never fear, it will appear. Just not yet. (x . x)**

* * *

"Y'know," they all stopped their dance rehearsal to look at Nami, "I was thinking it might be more interesting if you guys had some speaking parts interspersed with the songs."

They all looked at her blankly. Using some kind of male telepathy, they nominated Kazuki to respond. Considering what he said next, precisely why they thought this was a good idea is unknown.

"You mean like having us act out scenes like they do in plays?" he asked in confusion.

Her eyes lit right up. "Hey! That's not bad! I like that!"

They all groaned.

"Way to give her ideas!" Ryoutaro yelled at his fellow green-head.

"You should have just asked her what she was talking about," Len chastised, rubbing his temples like he could feel a headache coming on.

"It seems you've inadvertently nominated us to become actors Hihara," Azuma sighed.

Keiichi just conveyed his displeasure with a disappointed look that made Kazuki want to find the closest Catholic confessional box to beg for forgiveness from the angels.

He looked hopefully over at their jailer with a kind of desperate panic in his eyes. "You, uh, wouldn't be willing to forget what I just said, would you?"

"Nope."

He hung his head dejectedly. Man, him and his big mouth.

"It'll be awesome!" Nami chattered excitedly. "You guys will sing, dance, and act. You'll be triple threats."

Azuma mentally rolled his eyes remembering their so-far disastrous dance practice and the short tempers in the singing practice the day before. Triple threats indeed. Can't sing, can't dance, can't act. Catching Kazuki's pathetic puppy dog face, he sighed internally and swept his ponytail off his shoulder. Looked like he was in charge of damage control.

He eyed Amou-san discreetly out of the corner of his eye as she murmured ideas to herself. It was such a pity she wasn't as enamored with him as most of the girls in the school were. Although—he hid a smirk—it did make things a bit more interesting. As convenient as it would be for him to simply snap his fingers and have her jump at his command, he had never been one to shrink from a challenge, even one as small as this.

He studied her thoughtfully. He doubted she was completely immune to his charms. It was just a matter of figuring out the best way to get around her until she was convinced that his ideas were hers. Time to do a bit of research. "Amou-san?"

"Hmm?" she cut off mid-sentence to look at her senpai.

"What was your original idea?" He smiled with the air of an enthusiastic listener. "I'm curious to hear it."

"Oh!" Her smile broadened. As an extremely opinionated person, it was nice when someone was genuinely interested in hearing your take on things. "I was thinking for each song maybe one of you guys could say something to introduce it."

"Mmm," he nodded intently, trying to distract her from Ryoutaro and Len hissing angrily at Kazuki about how that would have been so much better than acting and why couldn't he have just left things well enough alone. Poor Hihara. He always meant well. "Do they do things like that at concerts you have attended before?"

"Yes," Nami nodded. "I thought it would add a more personal touch."

"Do they act in those concerts also?"

Her smile faltered a bit as she thought about it. "Well…not exactly. Sometimes they have sections where all the members interact with each other, but it's really more like talking. I don't think they necessarily rehearse it before-hand."

He hid a smirk. Ah, there was the chink in the armor. "It seems having the introductions would give this concert a more professional feel…."

She nodded vigorously. "It really would. Not to mention how thrilled the customers will be to have the extra face time with you guys."

He looked thoughtful. "Would we need to go over our lines? Things have really started to pick up with the student council with the sports day festival, and the cultural festival is right around the corner as well…."

She frowned. She had promised not to cut into their other extracurriculars unnecessarily, but she couldn't have him shirking practice. He had signed a contract. Besides, was he even actually _on_ the student council? "Are you going to have trouble making practice?" she asked icily. He blinked in surprise, managing to look so astonished that she felt bad for suspecting him of reneging. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

He simply shook his head with an understanding smile. Good. Now she felt like she owed him. "It's fine Amou-san. It was an understandable mistake. I was simply concerned about the extra time we would need to devote to learning lines and practicing if we were to go the acting route. It is a…busy time of year with the festivals and exams. Hihara and I need to prepare for college entrance exams, you and Tsuchiura-kun have midterms, and Tsukimori-kun needs to prepare for his study abroad. Extra practices would be…" he trailed off.

Reminded of her own impending academic problems, she became more pensive. "Hmm…that's true. Maybe it would be better to hold off on the song introductions. The singing and dancing is more important…." She looked disappointed.

He quickly calculated. She had given in more easily than expected, but it was possible that she'd just wait until after her exams were over to force them into doing this again like the annoying pest she was. Best to toss her a bone so she'd be satisfied. "Perhaps we could try it out on one song?" he offered.

"Of course!" she snapped her fingers with inspiration. "There's already some ad-libbing done on this track, so you could easily learn your lines along-side your singing practice. We can use this to see how much extra time the speaking part adds to the overall practices too."

Azuma nodded amenably. "That seems like a satisfactory arrangement." Turning to the others, he asked, "Does that work for you? Giving acting a try for _one_ song?" There was something in his eyes that told them that they should just agree, so they did.

As they all headed home, Kazuki slung an arm around his best friend with a large grin. "Yunoki, you are the _man_! How did you manage to get her to lay off?"

He shrugged modestly. "I just talked to her."

"Well, whatever you said, it worked." Ryoutaro ran a hand through his hair. "Thank goodness."

"But…we…still have…to do…this song…" Keiichi murmured to himself.

"Yes…while I'm grateful you managed to talk her down, Yunoki-senpai, why did you suggest we act out a song?" Len asked with a slight frown. "It sounded like you had managed to get her to forget the whole thing right before you offered."

Azuma swallowed a chuckle. And this was why he was the master. "As time went on, Amou-san would likely forget exactly why she held off on having us act and do introductions." He gave Len a conspiratorial smile. "This way, we have some control on the situation while still making her happy."

Len nodded slowly, seeing the potential of the situation. "I see. We can find ways during our practices to make her decide not to have us act anymore."

Ryoutaro flashed a wolfish grin. "That's brilliant!" He bent his head deeply. "I bow to the King of Scam."

Kazuki punched Azuma's arm good-naturedly. "I say it again. You are the _man_!"

~ (^o^) ~

Once the mid-stage curtain rose, the music and lights came on revealing a decorated tree on a rug with presents of various shapes and sizes. As the intro played, they all grooved over to different parts of the stage.

Jumping in unison, they planted their feet shoulder-width apart and slowly spread out their arms as Azuma sang. "**Hang all the mistletoe**," snake to the right, snake to the left, "**I'm gonna get to know you**," rock steps back, "**better**." They planted their feet again and stabbed the air. "**This Christmas**." They stepped forward with their right and brought their front arm up. "**And as I trim the tree**," arm down, "**How fun it's gonna be together**," face forward, "**Oh**." Finger jabs. "**This Christmas**."

Keiichi raised his mike and bobbed a bit. "**The fireside is blazing bright**."

"**And we're carolin' through the night**," Kazuki crooned.

As they side-stepped and clapped, five voices called out, "**And this Christmas**."

"**This Christmas**," Ryoutaro echoed.

"**Will be**," they all continued, "**A very special Christmas**."

"**So special**," Azuma responded.

"**For me**," Len sang, pressing a hand to his heart before transitioning to sliding and snapping with the others.

They moved so Ryoutaro now stood center stage.

Legs crossed, they bobbed their heads as they swept their right arms across. "**Presents and cards are here**." Left arm. "**My world is filled with cheer and you…Yeah**," side-step, side-step, finger jabs, "**This Christmas**." Slide…look and slide…look. "**And as I look around**," rock steps backward while pointing out, "**Your eyes outshine the town, they do…Yeah**." Finger jabs. "**This Christmas**."

"**Oh**." Keiichi slowly rocked. "**Fireside blazing bright**."

"**And we're carolin' through the night**," Kazuki bobbed his head as the notes tripped along.

"**And this Christmas**," they all sang stepping and clapping.

"**This Christmas**," Ryoutaro put a little swing in his voice.

"**Will be / A very special Christmas**"

"**So special**"

"**For me**," Len tapped his hand with the beat.

They slid and snapped their way over to the tree.

"Y'know, it is really good to be here for the holidays with the people you love," Kazuki beamed as he slung his arms companionably over Len and Keiichi's shoulders.

"Right, right," Len muttered as he extracted himself and took himself to a corner that was further away from his exuberant senpai.

"Hey, what do you want for Christmas Yunoki?"

"I just want peace on Earth and good will toward all men," Azuma stated diplomatically.

"Give me a break!" Ryoutaro scoffed. "I want a new watch; I want a remote control…."

"I don't think Santa can fit all that on his sleigh," Len sniffed in a dry tone.

"He can try!" Ryoutaro sneered back.

With a shake of his head, Keiichi smiled and looked up into the dark. "But…if…you're listening…Santa…." He closed his eyes as he sang into the microphone. "**Oh! Fireside's blazing bright**."

Swaying side-to-side with his kouhai, Kazuki continued, "**And we're carolin' through the night…!**" They broke apart for the chorus.

"**And this Christmas**," the five side-stepped and clapped.

"**This Christmas**"

"**Will be / A very special Christmas**"

"**So special**"

"**For me**"

They did some complicated footwork and spins that ended up with Keiichi and Len on the ends with the rest of them situated across the stage.

Keiichi smiled as he spread out his arms with his senpai. "**Hang all the mistletoe / I'm gonna get to know you better / Yeah**," finger jabs, "**this Christmas**."

"**And as I trim the tree**," Len sang, raising his right arm and bringing it down in time with the others, "**How fun it's gonna be together / Oh, this Christmas**."

"**Oh! The fireside is blazing bright**"

"**And we're carolin' through the night**"

At this point, the audience was clapping along.

"**And this Christmas**"

"**This Christmas**"

"**Will be / A very special Christmas**"

"**So special**"

"**For me**"

They grooved back over toward the tree.

"Let's…go caroling…I…feel like…singing…."

"We've been singing for the last three months!" Ryoutaro protested before turning his attention to the cheerfully wrapped prop boxes under the tree. "Let's open presents!"

"Hey!" Kazuki yelped, wildly waving his arms. "How come there are twelve presents under here for each of you, and only one," he dramatically held up the very small gift in question, "under here for me?" he pouted.

"Uh oh," Azuma chuckled.

"Forget it," Len moved away from his boisterous schoolmates to stand by his kouhai. "Let's go caroling."

"But what are we going to sing?" Kazuki asked, gift inequality seemingly forgotten.

"I don't know," Azuma walked over to them. "Let's see…."

"Oh, wait, wait, wait," Ryoutaro called as he joined the rest. They now all stood in a nice little line. "I know one." With a small little groove and snap, he sang, "**Jingle bells, Jingle bells….**"

Kazuki high fived him. "That's a good one!" Then he grinned. "Hey, check this out." He did a little slide and a body roll to the enthusiastic shouts of the crowd. "**A little Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer….**"

"**Dashing through the snow**," Keiichi swayed as he mimicked slolam skiing.

"**Frosty the snowman**," Azuma sang with a good-natured smile on his face.

"**Joy to the world!**" Len belted.

"**It was a silent night, it was a holy night**," Ryoutaro rapped.

"**Away in a manger**," Kazuki crooned.

Continuing in this singing order, they struck a random pose as they sang, much to the delight of the audience.

"**This Christmas**"

"**This Christmas**"

"**This Christmas**"

"**This Christmas**"

"**This Christmas**"

"**Oh yeah**"

"**This-This Christmas**"

"**This Christmas**"

"**This Christmas**," they sang in unison as they punched the air. "**This Christmas**"

"**The fireside is blazing bright**," Kazuki called out, following the others as they moseyed around the stage.

"**This Christmas**"

"**We're carolin' all through the night**"

"**This Christmas**"

He placed his hand on his chest and shot the audience his killer smile. "**Come be with me tonight**."

"**This Christmas**." They started to make their way offstage, the sound slowly fading out.

"**Yeah, yeah**"

"**This Christmas**"

Nami pouted a bit offstage as the crowd clapped and cheered. "_Aw man! That turned out so well! I should have made them do more of this kind of stuff. Darn it._"

* * *

**I think I've finally got the song list finalized, so hopefully I'll be able to release updates more frequently. It was harder to come up with a good mix of songs than I thought it would be. *NSync and 98**** were the only bands that I found who had put out albums with original Christmas songs on them that fit the general criteria I was looking for. I absolutely love Christmas hymns and carols, but Nami wanted romantic, so romantic was what she was going to get (unless she fell prey to Keiichi's charms). So an extra big thank you to people who did submit suggestions!**

**Thank you again to those who sent in reviews. (^_^) Thanks also to those who added this story to their favorites and alerts.**


	6. I Never Knew the Meaning of Christmas

***NSync's "I Never Knew the Meaning of Christmas": youtube…com/watch?v=dG50DifeDak**

* * *

Everyone chattered in excitement as the song finished. That last song had been a real surprise. They couldn't wait to see what happened next. As soon as the music cued, the conversations settled into silence.

"**Mmmm…**." Kazuki's voice cut through the dark.

"**Fa la la la la la la**," the others echoed.

"**Yeah…Oooh, yeah…**."

"**Fa la la, Fa la la, Fa la la la la la la**," they sang underneath him.

The lights came on as Keiichi smoothly turned in the direct middle of the risers to face the audience and raised a microphone to his lips.

The five were situated on the three risers in a large, spread-out X with the sophomores on the top riser and the seniors on the bottom. With the exception of the freshman, they all stood ramrod straight with their backs to the viewers.

"**Lookin' back on childhood days**," Keiichi shook his head slightly, "**I can't believe my foolish ways / Thought that Christmas only came from a store**." His face lit up like a child's when given a present. "**Had to know what was there for me / Underneath the Christmas tree**." His voice and expressions painted the picture so vividly the audience could almost see a phantom of his younger self running toward the tree onstage. "**I didn't know that there could be so much more**."

The other four lifted their mikes to join him on the last few words of each line. "**But in all of the rush / I was missing so much**."

He smiled that achingly, meltingly sweet smile and closed his limpid pools of water. "**Girl you made me finally see…**."

The others pivoted in place so they were all facing front. Raising their microphones to their lips, they stood in still, but relaxed poses.

**That I never knew the meaning of Christmas  
'Til you came into my life  
I was lost in the dark  
'Til you opened my heart  
Like an angel shining bright**

Keiichi pointed up with a faraway look in his clear blue eyes. "**I wished on a star / And girl here you are**," some lucky girl fainted under the full effect of his gaze as it leveled on a random audience member. "**Suddenly I realize**."

They all swept their free hand to their chests, "**That I never knew the meaning of Christmas**," and pointed out and sang to a random girl, "**'Til I looked into your eyes**."

The others swung snaps down by their hips as Azuma continued.

A little shiver went through the audience as he flicked his ponytail off his shoulder and tilted his head so he looked out from under his eyelashes. "**Comin' home for the holidays / Seeing friends from around away**," his face turned lonely and melancholy, "**There was always something missing for me**." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to concentrate. "**On a sleigh ride caroling**," he had to stretch a bit to hit that high note, but no one noticed. Crisis averted, he looked invitingly at one of his adoring fans. "**Didn't really mean anything / Without that someone who can make it complete**."

As the first-year girl went to a happy la-la land filled with visions of riding through a winter wonderland with her beloved Yunoki-sama, the guard members behind her seethed in indignation. Who did that little nobody twerp think she was to deserve to dream of being the one to console Yunoki-sama's loneliness?

The boys again joined together other for the last few words of each line. "**While the snow's falling down / There was joy all around**."

"'**Cause girl your love has shown me the way**"

They all bobbed or rocked slightly in place, each person doing their own little freestyle.

**And I never knew the meaning of Christmas  
'Til you came into my life  
I was lost in the dark  
'Til you opened my heart  
Like an angel shining bright**

The guard's indignation immediately evaporated when Azuma's eyes happened to seek them out for the next bit of his solo. "**I wished on a star / And girl here you are**." No one could tear their eyes away; it was like a beautiful, pristine snow-flocked haze had suddenly surrounded him making him look even more handsome. "**Suddenly I realize…**."

Azuma simply smiled and nodded his acknowledgement to the earth-shaking squeals of everlasting devotion and undying adoration that erupted from the throng as he sang with Kazuki (who was used to this sort of thing happening everyday) and Keiichi (who didn't really let anything faze him) in an impromptu trio. The second years were so taken-aback that they momentarily forgot they were supposed to sing. "**That I never knew the meaning of Christmas**."

The two boys regained their composure just in time to point at a random (different) audience member and slide in with the others, "**'Til I looked into your eyes**."

And now the classic step-touch. As they moved their bodies from side-to-side, the assembly clapped along with the snare.

Len and Kazuki started them off. "**Fa la la, Fa la la…Fa la la la la la la**"

The others replied, "**Sing it la la la la la la la**."

"**Fa la la la la la… / Fa la la, Fa la la, Fa la la, Fa la la…Fa la la la la la la**"

"**Sing it la la la la la la la la…**."

They all stopped as the two tenors finished off, "**Fa la la la la la…**."

Barely having a chance to catch a breath, Kazuki continued, "**But in all of the rush / I was missing so much**," he brought a fist to his chest as he sang his heart into the mike; for once, he could actually mean what he was singing, provided you put the words in a slightly different context of course. "**Girl you made me finally see…yeah**."

All the boys stepped side-to-side as they tapped their free hands on their thighs on the downbeat. "**That I never knew the meaning of Christmas-**"

"**Never knew, never knew, never knew knew knew knew**," Kazuki interrupted as he grooved with the music.

'**Til you came into my life  
I was lost in the dark  
'Til you opened my heart  
Like an angel shining bright**

The other four went into soft oohs underneath him as Kazuki looked deep into the dark. With a passionate look in his eyes he smiled and lifted his hand out in offering. "**I wished on a star / And girl here you are / Suddenly I realize…**." His eyes closed as his voice caressed the high note.

Oh wow. A lot of hearts quickened as they took him in. Now that they were looking at him when he wasn't bouncing around with a big goofy smile plastered on his face or with those silly random faces he'd make, it was obviously apparent. He was _hot_. He would definitely be getting more Valentine's Day chocolate this year than he had last year.

They all pointed straight ahead. "**That I never knew the meaning of Christmas / 'Til I looked into your eyes**"

Kazuki smiled and placed his hand over his heart. "**That I never knew the meaning of Christmas / 'Til I looked…into…**."

"**Your eyes…**" the three soloists finished together.

They all lowered their heads and the lights went out.

* * *

**So…I tried writing something to start off this chapter, but after putting together part of something that was Len-centric, I realized that the whole thing was complete garbage and tossed it out. In the end, I decided that it's probably better to put out something shorter that I like than forcing myself to write something that I don't like even half as much. I don't think it's likely to happen again since I've got ideas for what to write for the rest of the songs, but for those of you who enjoy reading the little random bits at the top, I'm sorry I couldn't deliver this time. m(_ _)m**

**Thank you again to those who sent in reviews. (^_^) Thanks also to those who added this story to their favorites and alerts.  
**


	7. Christmas Time

**Here's what would have gone at the beginning of the last chapter if it had wanted to cooperate. I would not call this my best work by any means, but I think I'm okay with it. It was a pretty constant, uphill battle, but I think I came out more the winner than the loser. At least it cooperated a little bit this time. XD**

**Backstreet Boys' "Christmas Time": youtube…com/watch?v=_r8j05gowgU**

* * *

"Umm…Tsukimori-senpai?"

Len turned with his usual stoic aloofness to the brown-haired first year. "Yes, what is it Shouji-san?"

Under his gaze, she suddenly wondered if asking was a good idea; he looked very impatient…but she couldn't help but be curious about the rumors. "I…was wondering if it's true that you're putting on a concert with the other male concours' participants."

The glare he gave her could have frozen fire. He would have loved to tell her that it was a bunch of silly lies, but he couldn't. That really grated. His fingers clenched a bit more tightly around his violin case. "So…there's a rumor like that circulating around, is there?" he asked quietly, looking away from her.

"Yes…there is…." She was a bit confused by how pensive he had become. "All the girls in both parts of the school are quite excited."

"How nice for them," he deadpanned. "If you'll excuse me, I need to practice."

"O-of course," she bowed, "I'm sorry for keeping you."

Setting down his case, he double-checked that the door and windows were locked. Not that locking the window always helped, but it made him feel better. From there, he quickly strode over to the closet and made sure it was empty. She had promised, but still…it couldn't hurt to look. Satisfied there was nothing amiss as he closed the piano bench, he finally began to practice.

The knock came after about an hour. In a flash, he moved his bow arm to the side as if to smack something away, ducked down, arched his body to the side, and clutched his violin to his chest as if to protect it from a falling building. When he realized there was nothing to defend against, he looked over at the door to see Nami busting up laughing.

Doing nothing to hide his displeasure, he undid the latch and poked his head out. "What do you want?"

She was laughing so hard it was hard to breathe. "I see…you're still…in shape," she gasped as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Indeed." He made to close the door.

"Hey, wait!" she cried as she shoved her shoulder into the gap. "Don't you ever look at the time?" She tapped her watch, holding it up through the window and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, I should have put a punctuality clause in that contract. If I had a dollar for every time one of you guys is late, I'd be rolling in it."

Ignoring her, he packed up and followed her out of the practice room area. Striding on ahead, his lips thinned as he stewed on what happened in the practice room. Stupid girl. Stupid concert. Stupid blackmail. All he had wanted was to play his violin in peace again. Was that so much to ask?

About a month before the whole fiasco began, he had been minding his own business practicing after school. Then, he heard a knock at the door. Turning his head, he glanced over. But there was no one there. Shrugging it off, he went back to practicing. A couple minutes later, he heard it again. Again he turned, and again no one was to be seen, so again he resumed his practice. This went on a couple more times before he strode over to the door and snapped it open to poke his head out. But the hallway was empty. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, he picked up his violin and began again, resolving to ignore the knocks. It was obviously a stupid prank of some sort.

Unfortunately, easier said than done. Having been an only child in a pretty quiet family, he was not particularly adept at tuning out annoying sounds while he was trying to concentrate. He had gotten pretty good at ignoring his classmates' bothersome chatter in class and as he passed them in the halls, but apparently his filters only worked on speech.

It also didn't help that the knocks seemed to be timed to the exact moments that he needed to focus the most. By the time he needed to go home, he was frustrated and dissatisfied with his progress. If he wanted to get into that chamber orchestra in Vienna, he'd need to have this song perfect even if he was playing it backward in his sleep. Well, maybe tomorrow would be a better day.

It wasn't. The incessant knocking was there _again_. And for a third day _and a fourth_. At that point, he had started bringing earplugs, but the unfortunate thing about earplugs is that they block out sound you do want to hear as well as the sounds you don't. So he decided to just bite the bullet and bear it. It'd get better. "This too shall pass," right?

And it actually did. By the end of the week, he could play without missing a beat.

But then came the projectiles. For the next week and a half, he had to bat away paper airplanes, avoid getting hit by balled up pieces of newspaper, and try to protect his violin from being attacked by hard, rainbow-colored bouncy balls _in addition to the stupid knocking_. Eventually he got quite adept at dealing with the barrage, but unlike with the knocking, he couldn't just ignore the objects being thrown at him.

The only good thing about this was that he figured out _who_ had been pranking him: Nami Amou. For the first week, she had hidden herself fairly well, but after that, she just outright threw things at him with this smirk that dared him to come and get her. Of course, he had asked (understandably rather rudely) what she was about, but all she did was smile enigmatically at him. Well, if she was trying to get a rise out of him for her stupid paper, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. He had no intention of deigning to acknowledge her childishness. He found that if you refuse to give attention-seekers the time of day, they generally find better things to do.

And it worked; well, sort of. One day, it was as if she had decided to give up. There were no knocks, no airplanes, no bouncy balls, no nothing. It was peaceful and quiet. Too quiet. He bit back a growl of frustration. Now that there weren't any disturbances, he was extra sensitive to everything. He'd jump at the smallest sound, bat imaginary objects away at the slightest movement…needless to say, practice that day and the next were not particularly fruitful. But by the third day, he had had a good practice and had managed to convince himself that the worst was over.

Oh how very wrong he was.

The minute he began to coax sound out of his violin the next day, the onslaught came back full force. Already severely off-edge, he finally snapped after two rounds, packing up his instrument and storming out of his sanctuary. If he could get no peace at school, then he'd just go home, even if it was harder to practice there. I mean, it couldn't get any worse.

"I'm home," he stated in weary irritation as he walked through the door.

"We're in the living room Len," he heard his grandmother's voice call out. "You have a visitor."

Visitor?

The older woman smiled at the lovely young girl before her. "I guess it's a good thing you didn't leave after all."

As he stepped into the room, Nami leapt up from the couch. "Tsukimori-kun~!" Her eyes shone brightly as her cheeks flushed in demure adoration and worship.

The second he laid eyes on her, his face screwed up like he had eaten a lemon. "What are you doing here?"

Turning a bit pale, she jerked back as if she had been slapped, tears springing to her eyes.

"Len! Don't be rude!"

Before Len could sputter an indignant response, Nami stepped in. "Oh, please don't scold him Obaasama, I shouldn't have intruded…."

Obaasama? "What is going on?" Len demanded harshly. "What do you think you are doing in _my house_-?"

"Len!"

"You apologize to this young lady, this instant, young man," his grandfather sternly ordered. "She came all this way to tell you something important, and you are going to be the gracious, well-mannered boy we know you can be and show our guest some respect."

Biting back his temper, he jerked his head at her in the passing acquaintance of a bow. "I apologize for my rudeness; please make yourself comfortable," he ground out.

Gracious and well-mannered? Nami just barely managed to suppress the snort of laughter. It looked like all that work keeping him unbalanced had done its job. Now for the clincher. "Tsukimori-kun…?" she asked in that dewy, ingénue tone of voice she had perfected over the last week. She bowed and held out a small bag wrapped in pink tissue paper with a large, satin bow on it. Also pink, of course. "These are for you."

He took them warily. Were they poisoned? Booby-trapped?

"Oh!" she clasped her hands. "I'm so glad you took them!"

Now he was going from wary to downright confused.

"They're cookies. I made them for you myself," she whispered, coyly looking at him from under her eyelashes. "I hope they'll convey my feelings to you."

For Pete's sake! She wasn't actually about to-?

"Tsukimori-kun…I…I really like-"

She was. "Please excuse us," Len interrupted curtly as he grabbed her hand, dragging her to another room, _far away_ from his grandparents.

As he snapped the lock, she leaned closer to him with hopeful eyes. "Tsukimori-kun, does this mean-?"

"What was that?" His tone was sub-zero.

"Why a love confession," Nami whispered, not dropping character for a second. "Am I your first? Oh, Tsukimori-kun-!"

"Shut up!" He rubbed his temples. He could definitely feel a migraine coming on. "Stop it. Just stop it. What is it you want? Just make it stop."

"Make what stop?" she asked in wide-eyed innocence.

He was really starting to get pissed off. "The knocking, the airplanes, the bouncy balls, the constant badgering, causing scenes _in my house_! I just want some peace!"

The mask dropped. "And peace is what you'll have," she gave him a slit-eyed look as she delivered the rest of the threat, "if you do what I say."

His eyes were hard as flint. "Excuse me?"

She smiled coquettishly. "Consider these past few weeks a taste of the waking nightmare I can make your life if I really wanted to…Lennie-pooh."

Lennie-pooh?!

She laughed hard and loud as his face turned purple. He really looked like he was ready to strangle her. She flicked a flirtatiously teasing finger under his chin and turned to leave with a smug smile. "I'll leave you alone for now, but…just think about it." She didn't even bother to glance back as she waved good-bye with a triumphant swing in her hips. "Ta-ta!"

So this is why he ended up here day after day, week after week, and month after month. "_Nagging, hard-headed, disagreeable, manipulative, paranoid she-devil_," he mentally cursed her as he half-listened to said female arguing with the pianist about their newest song. Something about why did they only sing pop songs? And that he shouldn't diss the awesomeness that was the Backsweep Boys or whatever they were called. And did they know how hard it had been for her to get this music, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It really didn't have anything to do with him other than that they were making his headache worse. He looked down at the sheet music with a sigh. She had a real talent for that.

~ (^o^) ~

This time, they were sitting in black, hairpin-back Bentwood chairs scattered across the stage in a kind of M shape in different poses. If one were writing the letter from bottom-left to bottom-right, at each point, you'd hit Keiichi, Len, Kazuki, Azuma, and Ryoutaro staring off into the distance.

"**Ooh… / Ooh, ooh…**" they cooed together, turning their faces toward the center before moving them back to their original positions.

Ryoutaro raised his microphone to his lips and gazed back out again leaning comfortably in his seat with his free arm propped on the chair back. "**There is something special / About this time of year / The Christmas feeling's**-"

"**Everywhere**," everyone joined in.

Keiichi picked it up, looking sweet and innocent with his leg tucked under his chin. "**I just got home / To join you / I've been away too long**"

"**Been away too long**," the others responded.

"**But now I'm back to share my love**"

Kazuki briefly closed his eyes in contentment and looked out over the chair back where his arms rested snugly. "**Friends are reunited / One big family / Filled with love to last throughout the year…**."

Together they all swayed.

**Christmas time  
Time to share our love  
Come and join  
The tidings to the world  
Christmas time  
The best time of the year  
Yes it's Christmas time **

"**Oh, Christmas time**," Azuma echoed. As he paused, he gave an aristocratic smile that matched his chosen pose: sitting with his right leg crossed so that his heel sat on his knee. "**You and me together**." Dreamy sighs rose from the audience. "**A sleigh ride in the park**."

"**Loving kiss straight from**-" they all sang before Azuma cut out to belt, "**Straight from my heart**!"

"**Snowflakes falling gently**," Len murmured as the other four sang oohs softly underneath. Somehow despite the noise from the purple prince's fans, he was still clearly heard, his tone as clear and crisp as the freshly laid snow. "**A smell of chestnuts in the air / And Christmas lights they gleam across the sky…**!" He lifted his head slightly from where it peered over his left arm that gripped the chair and breathed in deeply. "**Oh, oh, oh / It's Christmas time**"

This time, they added in snaps, the audience starting to move to-and-fro with them.

**Christmas time  
Time to share our love  
Come and join  
The tidings to the world  
Christmas time  
The best time of the year  
Yes it's Christmas time**

"**Ah hah…oh yes**," Kazuki crooned.

"**Do you remember?**" Ryoutaro asked.

"**Do you remember?**" came the echo.

"**Everything felt so right**." He had a faraway look in his eyes as a smile touched his lips. "**When I held you close to me**."

He launched into oohs with the others as Keiichi asked again, "**Do you remember?**" His smile was like velvet, molten chocolate. "**Those cold Christmas nights / Where we**-"

"**Saw the world in harmony**," they all joined together.

As the chorus started up again, the auditorium was lit by swaying cell phone lights as everyone held their devices high, a beacon in the dark. "**Christmas time / Time to share our love**"

"**Time to share out love**," Azuma echoed.

"**Come and join / The tidings to the world**"

"**The tidings to the world**," Kazuki called as he swung his arm high in time with the crowd.

"**Christmas time / The best time of the year / Yes, it's Christmas time**"

"**All around the world**," Len sang with a small smile that made many gasp to see such a rare sight. "**For all the boys and girls**"

The whole room moved from left to right as they picked up the tempo.

**Christmas time  
Time to share our love  
Come and join  
Tidings to the world**

**Christmas time  
Time to share our love  
Come and join  
Tidings to the world **

The boys switched to the snapping.

**Christmas time  
Time to share our love  
Come and join  
Tidings to the world**

**Christmas time  
Time to share our love  
Come and join  
Tidings to the world**

Len and Kazuki picked up the original chorus softly underneath as the other three continued the quick refrain.

**Christmas time (Christmas)  
Time to share our love (Time)  
Come and join (Time to share)  
Tidings to the world (Our love)**

**Christmas time (Come)  
Time to share our love (And join)  
Come and join (The tidings)  
Tidings to the world (to the world)**

The voices and lights faded slowly until they finally winked out.

As they moved their chairs backstage under the cover of darkness, Len smiled a little bit to himself. They were past the half-way point. Soon it would all be over. But when Keiichi quietly thanked him for helping him with his chair and he sent Kazuki a nod of support, he admitted to himself that maybe…just maybe, it hadn't been all that bad all the time.

* * *

**I'm not totally certain if this particular bit of blackmail would have been successful since it relies pretty heavily on my interpretation of Len being the kind of person who would be more likely to try and handle things on his own terms than being willing to do something more expedient like get a restraining order. That seems more like Azuma's schtick personally. But can you imagine how horrified Len would be at the prospect of having Nami hanging around him all the time until he left for Vienna? XD**

**I am actually more of an *NSync girl myself, but I thought the idea of Nami being a BSB fan would be fun. I like BSB too, but I have to respect people who can sing and dance like *NSync. It's super hard to do that without sounding really breathy.**

**Thank you again to those who sent in reviews. (^_^) Thanks also to those who added this story to their favorites and alerts.**


	8. You Are My Christmas Angel

**This song is from back in show choir days and has a special place in my heart, but unfortunately, I couldn't find a male choir that did the song right (audibly), so here are two recordings: a mixed (a.k.a. co-ed) choir and a men's choir. Since the men's choir is fairly young, they sang the whole thing in unison and left out some of the lyrics, so I provided the mixed version for reference.**

**Mac Huff's "You Are My Christmas Angel" (mixed choir): youtube…com/watch?v=re4bPtpOd6Y**

**Mac Huff's "You Are My Christmas Angel" (men's choir): youtube…com/watch?v=975v-iRajgE**

* * *

"You can't be serious!" Kazuki whined with a beet-red face. "You can't make us sing this! It'll be so embarrassing!" He brandished the music in front of her face. "You are my Christmas angel sent down from above / You are my special present wrapped in Christmas love." He pouted. "How cheesy can you get?!"

Nami narrowed her eyes at him. "You _can_ sing it, and you _will_."

"No, I won't!" he crossed his arms and looked defiant. "A lot of the songs you're making us sing are sappy and embarrassing," he complained, "but this is just too much! There's no way I'm going to humiliate myself by singing this in front of Kaho-" his face blanched and he hurriedly waved his hands around as if to try and erase what he had almost said. "I-I-I m-m-mean my crush-" he slapped his hands over his mouth as he hissed out the sh at the end. Eventually he recovered from freaking out enough to try again. "I…I…I mean…uh…umm…I-I mean…uh, in front of _my friends_." Deeming this to be a safe response, he turned to berating himself for almost blowing his secret twice, actually hitting himself on the head and calling himself an idiot under his breath.

It took herculean effort to not laugh at him. It really did. Especially when Tsuchiura-kun and Yunoki-senpai were having no problems doing so on the other side of the room. Even Tsukimori-kun's lips looked like they were a smidgen away from twitching. Shimizu-kun was sleeping obliviously on the seat over by the window, but that wasn't anything new.

Nami settled for rolling her eyes instead. She couldn't believe he actually thought his gigantic crush was a secret. Then, she shook her head. Well, to be fair, it was a secret from the only person that mattered. She couldn't help but wonder how a fellow member of womankind could be so clueless about her effect on the male species.

Her lips thinned. Well, no matter. She needed to bring this pup back in line; time was a-wasting, and she had already frittered enough of it away on entertaining this little tantrum. It was time to bring out the big guns. She cleared her throat until she had gotten his attention again. Then, placid as the surface of a frozen pond, she calmly flipped open her cell phone. "Well then, I suppose I know someone who would be _very_ interested to know-"

He cracked like a piñata. The effect was so instantaneous it almost made her feel bad. He practically _threw_ himself at her feet to beg for mercy. "No! Please! Anything but that!" he panicked. "I'll-I'll sing! I promise I'll sing! I won't even complain about the song anymore!" She didn't look like she was softening. "I'll-I'll even volunteer for a solo!"

Her eyes gleamed. Jackpot! "Really?"

He suddenly had a very bad feeling about this. Maybe it would have been a good idea to look over the whole score first. "Uh…yes…?"

Nami smiled like the cat that got the cream. "Oh, I have a very _special_ solo in mind for you."

"Poor sucker," Ryoutaro murmured sympathetically to the other bystanders. "She's going to roast him alive."

The others nodded, feeling very, very grateful that they didn't have Nami looking at them like that. They were infinitely more grateful when Nami directed Kazuki to one of the latter pages of the sheet music and explained _exactly_ what he was going to do.

~ (^o^) ~

This time the lights cued with the heavy piano intro, revealing their backs as they stood on the stage.

Smoothly turning, they sang in unison, "**Ah…You're my Christmas angel**." They swept their right arms out across their bodies. "**Ah…You're my Christmas angel…**."

The others went down on one knee, arranged in a V with Len standing at the apex.

Len tried to will himself to look…not irritated at having to sing a solo for this—Hihara-senpai had pegged it—sappy, cheesy song. "_Well, at least it's not as bad as Hihara-senpai's_," he comforted himself as he began to sing, gestures and all. "**It's finally Christmas, my darling / Our favorite time of the year**." He closed his eyes. "**I'll always remember / It's late in December**," he placed his hand over his heart, "**That I need my baby near**." He sank to the ground to join the others.

"**The ice and the snow of Winter**," Azuma and Ryoutaro began.

"**Merry, Merry Christmas, Ooh…**" the others responded underneath.

"**Still brings a chill to the air**"

"**Oh, oh, oh…**"

Everyone clasped their hands to their chests as the basses sang, "**The warmth you inspire**"

"**Oh…**"

"**Sets my heart on fire**." They let the hands fall with lightly fluttering fingers.

"**And it's suddenly Christmas everywhere**," they came back together as they rose.

"_And now_," Ryoutaro cringed, "_comes some of the cheesiest choreography in history._"

They snapped their fingers as they did the step-touch. "**You are my Christmas angel sent down from above / You are my special present wrapped in Christmas lo-ove**." They drew large hearts in the air with their arms on the last word.

Azuma and Ryoutaro led off, "**Oh…**." They all swept right arms out together.

"**Outside the snow is falling**," the others sang.

Left arms. "**Ah…**"

"**Inside my heart is calling**"

They all bobbed their "prayer hands" in front of their chests as they stepped from side-to-side. "**Please be my Christmas angel / Sent from Heaven above**"

They swung snaps through the second verse as they spread out a bit across the stage so they were in a straight line.

**You're all that I ask for this Christmas  
I've waited the whole year long  
The icicles thaw, dear  
The halls fa-la-la, dear**

They hit their marks and raised their arms. "**When you sing your heavenly so-o-o-ong…**"

Cheesy choreography again. "**You are my Christmas angel sent down from above / You are my special present wrapped in Christmas lo-ove**"

Kazuki steeled himself as he swept his arm with the others. Here it came.

"**Oh…**"

When he saw her come onstage with a nervous smile on her face, all the color drained from his face. "_Oh _no_…._"

"**Although it may be snowin'**"

It was Kaho-chan.

He panicked, standing there with a deer-in-the-headlights look, completely forgetting what he was supposed to be doing. Of all the people in the whole school Amou-chan could have picked, why did it have to be _her_?! It was bad enough that he had had to practice his lines on the guys, but now he had to humiliate himself and his crush in front of the whole school!

"**Ah…**"

Noticing Kazuki's immobility, Azuma surreptitiously kicked him. Unfortunately, the effect was anything other than discreet as the other boy fell sprawling across the stage at Kahoko's feet. "_Oh dear…_" he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to wince or chuckle, "_that didn't turn out quite as planned._"

"Oh my goodness! Are you alright Hihara-senpai?" Kahoko asked in concern as she knelt down beside him.

"**We'll stay inside mistletoe-ing**," Len and Keiichi continued stolidly. The show must go on.

Kazuki lifted his head just enough to gaze pleadingly at Nami offstage. Disregarding his plea for mercy, she sternly pointed at Kahoko and made a threatening motion that looked distinctly like a phone against her ear.

"**Please be my Christmas angel**." There were the "prayer hands" again.

He gulped and looked up at his crush. Here went nothing.

"**Sent from Heaven above**." They all walked to surround the pair on the floor, dropping onto both knees.

In a swift move that made her start, he grabbed her hand in his. "I…I…I-I'll always l-l-l-love y-you my d-d-darling."

The others were a cross between laughing at him and jealous as they sang back his spoken words. "**I'll always love you…my darling…**"

It became difficult to distinguish the difference between Kahoko's hair and her face.

"As…as l-l-long as there're…there're st-st-stars in the s-s-sky."

She could practically hear Nao snicker as she covered Mio's mouth to suppress her squeals of surprise and delight.

"**As long as there're stars…in the sky-y…**."

He didn't think it was possible for his face to heat up anymore. "But…umm…but if-if you…if you should l-l-leave me"

"**But if you should leave me**"

She looked so stunned. Oh, why oh why did it have to be her? "You," this was so humiliating, "you have to b-believe me." She was going to hate him by the end of this.

"**You have to believe me**"

In relief, he dropped her hands to clasp his hands together in time with the others. At least he wasn't by himself anymore. "**I beg you. I need you. I fall to my knees and I cry-y-y-y…!**"

All the boys stood to continue with the chorus, with Keiichi leading Ryoutaro, Azuma, Len, and Kazuki back into a line in front of Kahoko as they slowly step-touched. "**You are my Christmas angel sent down from above**"

Kahoko couldn't move. She was never, _ever_ going to do a favor for Amou-san ever again.

"**You are my special present wrapped in Christmas lo-ove**"

As soon as he had finished drawing his heart, Kazuki slipped behind the others and crouched down. "Kaho-chan! Kaho-chan!" he whispered loudly, trying to snap the girl out of her stupor.

"**Oh…**"

When he got her attention, he smiled weakly. "It's almost over. Just one last thing to do and then I'll take you back to your seat." He offered her his hand. "Come with me please?"

"**Outside the snow is falling**"

She nodded and let him help her up. She supposed she wasn't the only one who had been humiliated today. Poor Hihara-senpai. He'd had to do this over and over.

"**Ah…**"

He pulled her offstage and led her to the unlit stairs on the right side of the stage. He had her stand a step above his and gave her an encouraging smile.

"**Inside my heart is calling**"

Kazuki took a deep breath. Now that he was out of the spotlight, he realized what a chance he'd been given…and had almost blown. He'd have to milk this last line for everything it was worth. "_Alright, Kazuki. You can do it!_"

"**Please be my Christmas angel sent from Heaven above**"

The spotlight hit them, illuminating the little tableau.

Taking a single rose out of his sweater, Kazuki looked deeply into her eyes with a shy smile. "**P-Please be my Christmas angel…**" he offered her the rose, "**sent from Heaven…above…**"

The audience responded enthusiastically as Kahoko accpeted the flower with a pink tinge flushing her cheeks. Then, taking his proffered arm, they slowly made their way back to her seat under the cover of darkness.

"**Ah…You're my Christmas angel**," the boys on stage snapped. They were all a little conflicted about Kazuki managing to get his act together in time, but they hid it. Nami would skin them otherwise.

They swept their arms across. "**Ah…You're my Christmas angel…**."

Loud cheers and whistles rang through the hall as they went down on one knee. "**Ooh…**."

And the lights went out.

* * *

**I admit, Kazuki x Kahoko is my favorite pairing, but my main reason for putting Kahoko in this chapter is because I wanted someone else to have to suffer like I did! And who better than her? (^_~)* At least she got a rose out of it. I didn't get anything other than my friends making fun of me.**

**During the tech rehearsal back in high school, one of the guys in the men's choir walked through the auditorium to pick a girl to drag onstage, and he chose me. My friend who was sitting next to me was laughing so hard, I thought she was going to die. To be fair, I remember giving him this look like, what are you doing standing next to my seat? And when I realized exactly why I was onstage (this was the first time they were performing the song in front of anyone), my face probably resembled a lobster. I think they were trying some things out because when they did it with me, the guy who said the stuff Kazuki did (minus the stuttering) actually went down on one knee (along with the other 30 guys), whereas in the actual show, he just stood next to the random girl who was immortalized on video camera. Needless to say, I could not get off that stage fast enough when it was over. XD Totally didn't help that my crush at the time was in that choir either.**

**Thank you again to those who sent in reviews. (^_^) Thanks also to those who added this story to their favorites and alerts.**


	9. My Christmas List

** Keizura Manjuroh: See! I told you it would appear someday! I hope you like it!**

**Simple Plan's "My Christmas List": youtube…com/watch?v=oy-VNJb0MXs**

* * *

"Sorry I'm late," Ryoutaro panted slightly as he skidded through the door. He looked around the room with a furrowed brow. "Where's Amou?"

"Who knows," Len shrugged.

"Maybe she's trying to wake Shimizu-kun from wherever he fell asleep," Kazuki suggested from his place by the window. "No one's seen him today either."

"Before you suggest ditching practice," Azuma slid in smoothly as Ryoutaro opened his mouth with an opportunistic gleam in his eye, "I suggest you turn around."

Glancing back to see Nami looking sourly at him, Ryoutaro nonchalantly walked to the other side of the room to put down his stuff. Seeing that she hadn't moved an inch by the time he sat on the piano bench, he smiled overly pleasantly at her in a way that remarkably resembled a smirk. "I didn't say a word."

Silencing everyone else's snorts of laughter with a glare, she walked over and placed a stack of music on the lid. "Well, I hope you're happy. I found a punk song for you."

They all looked at her in surprise. "Oh, thanks," he mumbled.

Kazuki looked over the first page. "Cool! Looks like it'll have a good beat."

"And for once, it's not romantic. I think I'll die from the shock," Len said sarcastically.

"You want me to give you an extra solo, Tsukimori-kun?" Nami asked, stormy temper whirling in her eyes. She had had the mother of all bad days. She didn't need him and his lip to add to it.

"Extra?" Azuma asked curiously. "There are five solos marked out."

Nami pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Shimizu-kun is sick with a fever; he'll be out for a couple of days, so I'm giving him a bye."

"Wait," Ryoutaro's face was covered in disbelief, "you mean this whole time we could have avoided getting assigned solos by being sick?"

"Of course not," Nami snorted. "You just wouldn't be around to protest the solos I gave you."

"Then why-?"

"Because Shimizu-kun has been such a duck about this whole thing unlike _some_ of you," she gave Ryoutaro, Len, and Kazuki the evil eye, "so I thought I'd cut him some slack."

Ryoutaro and Len's faces looked particularly sour at that. Kazuki just lamented his luck.

But Azuma, on the other hand, smiled in perfect serenity. Apparently he was on the good list. How nice. In the mood to stir up a little mischief, he innocently asked, "Who should take the fifth solo then since Shimizu-kun is indisposed?"

Suddenly, the other three boys found the walls, ceiling, floor, door, pretty much anywhere that wasn't in the general vicinity of Nami, utterly fascinating. The key was to avoid eye contact.

"Hmm…" she grinned with a predatory look in her eye. She was enjoying herself immensely. It had been awhile since she had last dispensed solos. Just a little payback for all the headaches they gave her on a daily basis. "Who should take the extra solo indeed?" she wondered aloud. Pointing to each boy in turn she mused, "Should it be Tsukimori-kun who's the best singer? Or Tsuchiura-kun who's been the most defiant to date? Or maybe Hihara-senpai?"

They all continued to stubbornly stare elsewhere. Avoid eye contact. Avoid eye contact.

Her sadistic smile grew with every word she let out, the syllables falling torturously slowly from her lips as her finger moved from person to person with the levity of a judge's gavel. "Eeny…meeny…miny…moe…I'm…going…to…choose…_you_."

~ (^o^) ~

The four of them walked on from the wings, clapping loudly over their heads. "Come on everyone…!" Keiichi invited with a large smile. "Put your…hands together…!"

They filed into a single line behind Ryoutaro so those in the front rows could only see him. "_5, 6, 7, 8. 3, 2, 3, 4_," he gave a little whirling flick of his right wrist and sent it down, swung it across his hips and pointed up back out to the right. As the instruments went into a crescendo, he leaned forward a bit as the others leaned out behind him on alternating sides, before all of them slid back in line with the pulling back of his hand, like puppets on a string. When the downbeat came again, they all crouched into a running position, and slid out into the bottom-half of a pyramid. Kick, pop out, kick, pop, slide…footwork back. Keiichi and Azuma crip walked forward as Ryoutaro and Len cripped to the back. Slide…and footwork back.

Keiichi and Len lunged right, slid in, and dropped, followed by Azuma and Ryoutaro who mirrored them on the left as Kazuki jogged onstage, traversing across the back and to the center. Thankfully it hadn't been too far to run around the building, so he had made it just in time to puppet them up into a jerk. As he walked up the middle, they parted before him, swinging their bodies low to the ground before facing the center and cripping their way back.

**Santa is coming tonight  
And I want a car  
And I want a life  
And I want a first class trip to**

They all stood feet shoulder-width apart and held out "hang loose" signs with both hands. "**Hawaii**"

Kazuki joined the others in the dance as Len took over. Moving from side-to-side, he raised his mike to his mouth. "**I want a lifetime supply / Of Skittles and Slurpees and Eskimo Pies / I want a DVD**." He created a box around his head in unison with the others. "**A big screen TV**," throw down with a swish of the head and a kick, "**Just bring me things that I don't need**!"

Stopping dead still, they sang in four-part harmony, "**'Cause now it's Christmas**," they were once again bouncing flurries of activity. "**And I want everything**," they threw a fist up in the air with a jump, "**I just can't wait**!" Push to the side. Padebure back and into a kick. "**Christmas / So don't stop spending**." They slid forward pointing to the sky. "**I want a million gifts / That's right**!" Jab the air. They pulled their arms across and popped their leg, stepping stiffly out with a heavy lean and together twice before raising their arms up. "**Don't forget my Christmas list tonight**!" Bringing their arms down, they changed formation. "**'Cause now it's Christmas**"

Azuma stood at the point of the v, swinging snaps and rolling his body with the others.

**Somebody take me away  
Or give me a time machine  
That takes me  
Straight to midnight  
I'll be**

"**All right**," they swept into a line and popped and cripped as Ryoutaro spun into the front, throwing out his hands a little to the cheering audience.

As the others kicked and grooved behind him, he did a modified freestyle.

**[I want a king waterbed]  
[And without further ado]  
A Playstation 2  
I want a shopping spree**

Five fingers slowly rose forward and up into the air. "**In New York City**," throw down with a swish of the head and a kick, "**Just bring me things that I don't need**!"

"'**Cause now it's Christmas**," they punched the air and threw their arms out into a spin, "**And I want everything**." They punched down and swung their arms in circles near their hips. "**I just can't wait / Christmas / So don't stop spending**." Pivot, cross, out, cross, out, "**I want a million gifts / That's right**." Jab the air. "**Don't forget my Christmas list tonight / 'Cause now it's Christmas**"

They strode forward in a line with Ryoutaro front and center. "**I wish I could take this day / And make it last forever!**" As he stretched for the notes, he cursed Nami. Why couldn't she have assigned one of the others to the extra solo? They could reach these notes way more easily than he could. He was a freaking bass! "**And no matter what I get tonight / I want more**"

They circled, the basses and baritones alternating with the tenors.

**It's Christmas  
(It's Christmas)  
And I want everything  
(It's Christmas)  
I just can't wait**

They turned their circle the other way. "**It's Christmas / (It's Christmas) / And I want everything**"

"**Now**," they all slid into a diagonal across the stage and began the chorus.

**Christmas  
And I want everything  
I just can't wait  
Christmas  
So don't stop spending  
I want a million gifts  
That's right**

"**And I can't wait 'til midnight**," throw down. "**Don't forget my Christmas list tonight**"

They slid into a parallelogram right down the middle, taller in the back, shorter in the front, with Keiichi in the center. Again, parts alternated, starting with the tenors this time. As they sang, they slowly rocked back, moving further upstage.

**(Can't wait for Christmas)  
'Cause now it's Christmas  
(Can't wait for Christmas)  
'Cause now it's Christmas  
(Can't wait for Christmas)  
'Cause now it's Christmas**

On the last word, they lunged right sweeping their arms up and out and did a slow kick to the side to look out as the screams brought down the house.

* * *

******Ooh! We just hit our second-to-last song! Sorry it took a bit. The choreography just didn't want to come together. Then I got the idea to watch Arashi's "Crazy Moon ~ Kimi Ha Muteki ~" PV, and the light came on (though the majority of the choreography for the chorus came from their opening to "Pikanchi Double"). You can see the PV here if you want to know what I was trying to convey: facedl…com/fvideo…php?f=awoowuqxaaqao&pv-arashi-crazy-moon-kimi-wa-muteki. XD Looove Arashi!**

**The last song of the concert is pretty much my favorite boy band Christmas song because it's just sooo romantic! *happy sigh* The chapter is shaping up nicely, so I guarantee that it will appear sometime next week (Mon-Fri). Stay tuned and thank you for reading (and please, please vote!)!**


	10. This Gift

**Yay! We're finally at the finale! And I got it out on time with a day to spare! (^_^)v**

**98°'s "This Gift": youtube…com/watch?v=m-OglenAygk**

* * *

"Do we have to practice today?" Kazuki asked as he stared up at the ceiling.

They all gave him strange looks that ranged from the mildly surprised and curious to looking at him like he had grown two extra heads. It was two weeks to the dreaded concert. Of course they had to practice!

"What are you saying, Hihara?" Azuma asked with a slight frown.

He turned his head to the side so he could see them from his vantage point of the floor. Despite that, his eyes were unfocused and glazed, as if he wasn't actually looking at them. "I'm worn out from practicing. We've been at this for like three months straight every day: hour-and-a-half rehearsals on weekdays and three- to four-hour ones on weekends." His eyes focused on Nami. "Don't you think we deserve a break?"

"What would you even do with yourselves?" Nami asked skeptically to everyone's surprise. They had expected her to shut him down.

Realizing she wasn't going to flat out say, "No," he perked up and lifted himself to an upright position. "Grab something to eat, hang out, goof off, be normal teenagers who aren't in a coerced boy band; y'know, stuff people usually do on a free Saturday."

"Why wasn't practicing our instruments in that list?" Len asked. I mean, duh, what else would they do with their free time?

"Oh live it up a little Tsukimori-kun!" Kazuki muttered. "You're never going to become a decent musician if practicing is the only thing you ever do in life."

Now everyone including Keiichi stared at him like he had grown two extra heads. Had he actually just said that? Ryoutaro saying something like that to Len, sure, but Kazuki?

Belatedly realizing what had flown out of his mouth, Kazuki flushed and bowed his head toward his blue-haired kouhai. "Sorry…I shouldn't have said that. You're a better musician than I am. I could stand to learn more dedication from you," he admitted ruefully.

"Ah…I…wouldn't say that…" Len answered awkwardly. Never in all his life did he think he'd be having a conversation like this with Hihara-senpai of all people. "Your music lifts people's spirits and gives them strength. That's very admirable."

Kazuki stared at him in surprise. "Tsukimori-kun…."

"You could always stand to practice more of course."

Nami slapped her forehead. "_Way to ruin the moment Tsukimori-kun!_" She was surprised when Kazuki just laughed and grinned at Len.

"Somehow that seems more like something you'd say," he chuckled.

Len just smiled slightly and shrugged. It was too weird for Hihara-senpai to not be cheerful and laughing. He was glad things had gone back to normal. Over time all the boys had bonded through their shared plight.

"Hey," Kazuki snapped in inspiration, "why don't we go do karaoke for a couple hours? It would cut our practice time in half, and we could still run through our songs once apiece so it would be like we were practicing." He rubbed his stomach. "We could eat there too! There's this place I know that serves really good takoyaki and yakisoba!"

"How's their udon?" Ryoutaro asked, warming up to the idea. "I haven't had good udon in a while."

"I…want…sushi…" Keiichi murmured half to himself.

"They've got both! All the food's pretty good."

"Hmm…it could be fun," Azuma said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

"I suppose even if I wanted to, I couldn't get out of this," Len stated, although he almost seemed like he was half-joking.

"We already hear your God-awful voice every day, so why break with tradition?" Ryoutaro drawled lazily.

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Len dryly returned.

For a while, they just stared each other down until they both smirked as the other boys laughed.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Nami shouted over their conversation. "I didn't say I was cancelling practice!"

Without missing a beat, Kazuki turned on the full-blown puppy dog pout, the one that had felled even the mighty Yunoki guard. No woman had yet to be able to stand up to it, and Nami was no exception. It was actually kind of a pity he had never thought to employ it when he wanted to get out of singing solos.

"Oh fine! Get out of here!" she rolled her eyes as she dismissed them. "But you better actually sing all the songs."

"Woot!" Kazuki cheered . "Up high!" He and Ryoutaro slapped palms. "Last one packed up has to eat the weirdest thing I find on the menu!" he called as he scooped up his gym bag and ran out the door.

While the others didn't rush out at quite the speed he had, Ryoutaro and Len did move a little more quickly than they might have otherwise. Considering Kazuki's iron stomach, neither of them particularly wanted to know first-hand what he'd consider weird.

~ (^o^) ~

"Yunoki-sama~!" The adoration of the audience filled the auditorium as Azuma stood illuminated on the stage.

"Good evening everyone. Thank you for attending our Christmas Eve concert. Are you all enjoying yourselves?"

Cheers, claps, and whistles of affirmation thundered from the crowd.

"Since this is our last song of the evening, we're going to have a quick word from our organizer and sponsor, Miss Nami Amou!" He motioned stage right as the spotlight centered on her.

There were lots of polite claps as he handed off the microphone to the second-year.

"Good evening everyone! Thank you again for coming to our Christmas Eve concert. The Journalism Club would like to thank you so much for all your support! We'd also like to take this moment to extend our thanks to our band," she paused so people could clap, "our stage crew," more clapping, "and of course, the five men of the hour," she swept her hand back as the stage lights flooded on showing the five boys sitting on tall stools.

The applause and cheers brought down the house.

She grinned. Music to her ears. "Thank you again for everything! We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year." She smiled and bowed. "Now without further ado, our last song of the evening, and a personal favorite of mine, 98°'s hit single, 'This Gift'."

The clapping quickly quieted as the music came on and the lights dimmed, casting a bluish glow over the stage. The boys sat arranged by height in parts with Kazuki on the far right and Ryoutaro on the far left.

Ryoutaro wondered where she could be sitting. Since he hadn't noticed Hihara-senpai looking anywhere in particular, he picked a direction and hoped it was right. "**The snow is falling, the city is white**." Gasps of delight and admiration were heard as fake snow began to lightly fall over the scene. He pictured those pale, starlit eyes. "**Your eyes are shining like diamonds tonight**." He smiled tenderly as he thought of her strength. "**And we're all alone / There's no one home / You're finally in my arms again**."

Ryoutaro joined the others in soft oohs as Keiichi picked it up. As his voice caressed the words, he closed his eyes and hoped that she would hear the music of his heart. "**The night is silent / And Christmas is here**," he smiled out into the dark, "**I couldn't ask for more than having you near / Cuz I love you girl**."

"**Love you girl**," the others echoed.

"**And I always will**," he promised.

"**Always will**"

He touched his heart and felt the warmth run through him as he thought of his senpai who had brought him closer to finding the perfect sound. "**And now I know the moment is right / The moment is right**"

They all grooved and snapped on their individual stools as they sang out together.

**Cuz I've been waiting to give this gift tonight  
I'm down on my knees, there's no better time  
It's something to last for as long as you live  
Tonight I'm gonna give you**

"**Oh, girl**!" Ryoutaro belted.

"**All my heart can give**…" they finished before grooving and snapping some more.

The cheers this time were on the quieter side as the majority of the audience had become puddles of mush.

Azuma took up the reins as the others swayed from side-to-side. He thought of that time he had taken her to that fancy restaurant. "**I thought I'd give you something shiny and new / I tried to find something worthy of you**," the girl who hadn't shied away from him despite his teasing and bullying, who always got up after being knocked down and faced the world with a smile. "**But I realized when I looked inside**." Despite it all, when she looked at him, her eyes held no doubt, no distrust. "**There's some things that money can't buy / Oh, no…**"

Len allowed a small smile to come to his lips. She was here, sitting somewhere. As the others began to sing oohs underneath, he thought back to that time he had first really noticed her outside the music room. "**I feel the magic, whenever you're near**." Those guileless eyes and heartfelt words…he had never been complimented like that before. "**I feel it even more this time of the year**." She had opened his horizons. "**Cuz I love you girl**"

"**Love you girl**"

"**I always will**," he swore.

"**Always will**"

"**And now I know the moment is right / The moment is right…**"

They all smiled and sang for the girl who had captured their hearts in various ways. "**Cuz I've been waiting to give this gift tonight**."

"**This gift tonight**" Azuma crooned.

"**I'm down on my knees, there's no better time / It's something to last for as long as you live / Tonight I'm gonna give you all my heart can give**"

Kazuki looked up to where he knew she'd be sitting. Never were his words more true. "**You know I'll always be true to you / And you know I'm the one you can turn to**." Even if Kaho-chan didn't know the words he was singing were for her, he prayed that perhaps maybe somewhere deep inside of her his music would touch her a little bit. "**Oh yeah / Any time, any place, or anywhere**." And maybe someday…someday, when he finally managed to tell her his feelings, she'd recognize that he had been trying to show her this all along. "**You know that I'll always be there! / Oh baby**"

They slipped off their stools and began to roam the stage.

**Cuz I've been waiting to give this gift tonight  
I'm down on my knees, there's no better time  
It's something to last for as long as you live  
Tonight I'm gonna give you all my heart can give**

They stopped and grooved in place, bobbing their heads and gesturing in the way Nami had drilled into them.

**Cuz I've been waiting to give this gift tonight  
I'm down on my knees, there's no better time  
It's something to last for as long as you live  
Tonight I'm gonna give you all my heart can give**

With long, strides, they made their way back to their seats, and as the last notes faded away, they touched their lips and blew a kiss out into the dark.

* * *

**And we have come to the end of the concert. Yay! If you think these boys deserve an encore, then drop the word ****encore**** somewhere in your review. (^_~) Since the most number of reviews I've gotten for any given chapter is 6, if we can top that (a.k.a. the boys get 7 or more requests for an encore [only 1 more to go!]), then Nami will send them out onstage to do an encore number.**


	11. Encore: Kiss Me at Midnight

***bounces excitedly* Look! Look! Look! We have an encore! Yay! Finally! I usually don't do thank yous outside of PMs, but a million, gazillion thank yous to (in review order) mtnikolle, misslaly19, Keizura Manjuroh, Devilish Dream, LittleBottle, The Cahill-Demigod Witch, and Rena404! I hope you enjoy it!  
**

**Now that we're done with our Christmas concert, let's party it up in the New Year (in April XD)!**

***NSync's "Kiss Me at Midnight": youtube…com/watch?v=oTAWvUAnVSo**

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"Encore! Encore! Encore! Encore!" the chant thundered, charging the room with electricity. "Encore! Encore! Encore! Encore! Encore! En-"

Deafening screams ripped through the air as the music and lights came on, illuminating Keiichi at the top of the risers.

"**Oh…oh. Hey, hey…**" he placed a hand on his chest, "**Kiss me at midnight**."

A projector turned on, flashing a countdown in time with his raised fingers. Picking up their cues, the audience shouted, "**Five!**"

"**Hey, yeah…**." He began to descend the steps.

"**Four!**" The right stage lights came on.

"**Oh…oh…oh…**"

"**Three!**" The left lights. "**Two!**" Center lights.

He swept his finger up as everyone yelled, "**One…!**"

The other boys leapt onto the stage with vigorous punches in the air. "**Whoo!**"

Now staggered across the stage, they began to move. "**Kiss me at midnight / Dance until the morning light / Party into the new year**." And now the dougie. "**All of my friends are**," the jerk, "**here / And when the time is**," dougie again, "**right / Kiss me at midnight**."

"**Kiss**," Keiichi added before spinning to rock with the others behind Azuma.

Azuma strolled the stage garnering the adoration of the crowd. He owned the stage, and everyone knew it. "**I've been waiting for this special night / To be with you**." He was king and the volume of his fans told him so in no uncertain terms. "**The colors of Christmas are still shining bright**." He gave a wink that sent three-quarters of the auditorium into a squeals of ecstasy. "**And I know what we're gonna do**"

"**Anticipating, the music is playing**," they all crooned.

"**The magic is in the air**," Keiichi strode forward as Azuma stepped back.

"**The air**," they echoed.

He gave that sweet, charming smile that had won the hearts of girls everywhere. "**All of the season / You've been the reason**." He stretched out his hands. "**I've had so much love to share**." The screams of delight were ear-piercing.

And back to the chorus, sliding again. "**Kiss me at midnight / Dance until the morning light / Party into the new year**." Raise it up. "**All of our friends are here / And when the time is right**." Leaning progressively more to the side, they pointed out to the audience in an arc. "**Kiss me at midnight**." Snap back to attention.

One by one, they dropped to the ground as they sang.

"**Kiss**"

"**Kiss**"

Ryoutaro and Kazuki looked up briefly to sing with the others, "**Kiss me at midnight**."

"**Kiss**"

"**Kiss**"

"**Kiss**"

Ryoutaro stood and walked past the others' crouched forms. He took the stage strong and solid. Hearts fluttered wildly as he exuded pure masculinity. "**We've been making promises in the dark / Our resolutions**." Muscular, broad shoulders, toned athletic build, smile like a cool drink on a hot day, ooh la la, more than one girl was hooked. "**As a brand new year is about to start / And we're together**." He crouched back into position.

"**Celebrating**," all heads popped up.

"**Celebrating**," Len echoed.

"**No more waiting**." They all shifted to their knees.

"**Ooh…**"

With measured steps, they regained their feet. "**Our time has arrived / Oh, oh, oh…**"

Kazuki patted his right hand over his heart in time with the music. "**Feel the beat of my heart**"

"**Beat of my heart**," the others body rolled to the right.

"**As the countdown starts**"

To the left. "**Countdown starts**"

He stretched his arm out toward the audience, "**Look into my eyes…!**" and let it rip as he brought it back, "**Oowooohhh!**"

They began the chorus choreography amidst earthshaking cheers for his high note. As they danced, they slowly moved into a v with Len at the point.

**Kiss me at midnight**  
**Dance until the morning light**  
**Party into the new year**  
**All of my friends are here**  
**And when the time is right**  
**Kiss me at midnight**

Cool and handsome, Len was framed by a flurry of choreography that involved a lot of kicks, punches, and slides. He flicked his bangs out of his eyes in a way Nami claimed was hot. "**Baby it's New Year's Eve / A time we can believe**." As he sang, he slowly lifted up his hand. "**In making wishes, dreams come true**." It came back to his chest as he belted, "**Just for me and you!**"

Standing still, their voices rang out over the roar of the crowd. "**Kiss me at midnight / Dance until the morning light**"

"**Hey yeah!**" Ryoutaro called out.

"**Party into the new year**"

"**Come on now!**" Azuma urged.

"**All of my friends are here / And when the time is right**"

Kazuki punctuated each word as he launched his finger into the air. "**The time is right!**" Sweeping his hand back to his chest, he belted out, "**Kiss me at midnight!**"

Abandoning all choreography, they all began to roam the stage, clapping and snapping as they sang.

**Kiss me at midnight**  
**Dance until the morning light**  
**Party into the new year**  
**All of my friends are here**  
**And when the time is right**  
**Kiss me at midnight**

They made their way up the aisles, pausing every so often to sing to random audience members as they ascended the stairs.

**Kiss me at midnight**  
**Dance until the morning light**  
**Party into the new year**  
**All of my friends are here**  
**And when the time is right**  
**Kiss me at midnight**

Eventually their voices faded as they one-by-one, they exited through the back doors. Though they couldn't hear it, the roar of applause threatened to dislodge the foundation of the building.

~ (^o^) ~

As all the people exited, Nami grinned at the excited chatter. They were such a huge, honking hit! She had wanted to dance when she had heard from the treasurer how much money they had made. Oh the sweet, sweet taste of success.

Suddenly she remembered her satchel of papers. Oh, right. Turning down the hallway, she flew back to the boy's dressing room. "You guys were awesome!" she greeted gaily. "I told you you'd get an encore! Did you hear that crowd? Any louder and they would've raised the roof!" she crowed.

Kazuki smiled back. "We kicked butt!" he grinned as he high-fived Azuma and gave Keiichi a noogie.

"This wasn't supposed to be fun, y'know," Ryoutaro stated with a raised eyebrow as Keiichi fixed his hair with a quiet laugh.

"Oh, leave him be," Azuma chuckled. "You know you had fun as well, Tsuchiura-kun."

Ryoutaro rolled his eyes with a small smile. "Well, maybe a little. A few times."

Keiichi smiled. "Everyone…sang…very…well…. The sound…carried…very nicely…."

"Yes, yes," Len said impatiently. "Good job and congratulations all around, but when can we leave?" He suddenly thought of something. "Is it even safe?" he asked, a small worry line creasing his forehead. "We're not going to be mobbed, are we?"

"Not today at least," Nami assured him. "If you get swarmed on Monday though, well, then that's the price of fame."

Len bit back a curse. Even without being present, she was still finding ways to make life unbearable. "_Well_," he sighed, "_it'll just have to be like the beginning of freshman year all over again. The hype will eventually go away._"

"But first," Ryoutaro flatly held out his hand to Nami with a hard look in his eye, "evidence."

"Yes, yes," Nami pulled out a large, manila envelope and handed it to him. "Everything is in there, including the negatives."

"You were blackmailed with pictures Tsuchiura?" Kazuki asked curiously. "Can I see?"

"Of course not, you idiot!" Ryoutaro barked as he clutched the parcel to his chest. "If I had wanted people to see them, I wouldn't have just done that concert!"

Kazuki pouted.

"And this is for you, Hihara-senpai," Nami handed him a smaller envelope.

In confusion, Kazuki opened it and read, "I, Nami Amou, hereby swear to not reveal Kazuki Hihara's secret to Kahoko Hino. Signed Nami Amou." Kazuki grinned in relief. It was kind of nice to get this in writing. He guessed she was handing similar letters to the others when he saw her approach Len and Azuma.

As Nami handed Keiichi his stuff, she closed her satchel and turned to them with a bow. "Thank you guys for all your hard work." She popped up and grinned. "You can leave out the back. There's no one there. I already checked." She turned with a wave. "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!"

As she marched down the hallway, she could hear the five talking as they went the opposite direction. She grinned a bit as she thought of all the pictures she had gotten over the last three months. This would be a news spread no one would ever forget.

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**Haha, looking back on this (because I wrote it awhile ago) and thinking about how things turn out in the White Day sequel, it makes me laugh. And now this concert is actually over. =) Thank you everyone for reading! Thank you for those that added it to their favorites and alerts, and especially to my wonderful reviewers!**

**This is quite late at this point, but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

**~tentsubasa**


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